Two at a time!

As we continue to learn how to use the various materials in our playground and in our classroom, the children are sharing, taking turns, and working together.  Sometimes having limited supplies promotes sharing and turn taking, and friendships build from working together.

Sally and Samantha dig together in the dirt while planting seeds.

Sydney and Lily take a drive around the playground together.

Graham and Ben share water and paints to create masterpieces.

Woodworking:"The Last Hurrah"

  
The woodworkers have put down their tools and  admired their work. The children  commented that they "liked the plans" while others liked to "hammer and saw." The experience was peppered with multiple opportunities to learn. One of our trial and error experiences involved the length of the nails that were required to connect 2 pieces of wood. The wood easily splintered so the nails  had to be thin which made it challenging for the students to successfully hammer. Everyone cheerfully waited and supported their peers until it was their turn and all of us enjoyed the process.

What will the Keshet children do with the tube?

As Savita unrolled the new rug in our classroom, we found a thick cardboard tube inside.  We propped one end of it on a chair and waited to see what the children would do with it.  They looked it over, looked through it, looked through it at each other, talked and yelled to each other from one end to the other.  Eventually, the children started placing things inside the tube: cars, trucks, train cars, and then....Lego pieces.  They came to understand that the Lego pieces would not slide to the end of the tube like the wheeled vehicles did.  At one point, the tube was filled from one end to the other with objects.  This play also offered another opportunity to work on taking turns.  

 

 

Team Building Games!

The children are learning life skills via playing games!  Balloon-o is a team building game that challenges two children to work together to place all the free floating balloons on the floor into the baskets, using only a noodle or stick.  The children are asked not use their body(hands, feet,head) to place the balloon in the baskets.  The whole group is asked to work together with their partner to collect the balloons and beat the clock!

Build and Crash is a great team building game!  The children are asked to work together to build tall structures with the whole group.  Before they start building they are asked to pick one or two children to be the crashers.  The crashers are the people that knock down the structures.  They can choose the method in which they want to knock the structure down...rolling on their belly on a dolie head first, then crashing into the structure, throwing bean bags or rolling a ball.  Once the structure is knocked down the children are eager to work together to build again so the crashers can do their part!  Everyone takes turns being the crashers!

Guess Who?

The Kohavim children started playing a new game today called, "Guess Who?" The object of the game is to determine the "mystery person" the other player has on their yellow card by asking each other yes/no questions. The children notice specific characteristics of the mystery people, such as, if they are wearing glasses, the color of their hair, and if they are wearing hats. Then they craft questions to eliminate and narrow the possibilities. As the children engage in board games they are also practicing taking turns, following rules, developing strategy, and learning that sometimes you win and sometimes you might not, but we always have fun! 

Brave Queen Esther

At our morning meeting we had in depth discussion about heroes and who the heroes are in the Purim story and why.  When we opened the classroom for free play we invited the children to create crowns with scissors, paper, markers, tape and sequins.

Queen Esther seemed to be be very popular!  The children took their time as they traced, cut and decorated their crown.  Tomorrow we will have the opportunity to make more crowns.  Next week we will play with the crowns in our dramatic play center.

Lunch Bunch Rocks!!

The children and I had a rocking time in Lunch Bunch today!   We played music from Pandora...Kids Bop Kids and Radio for Kids really hit the spot!  We all gathered around and listened, danced and had a jam session with "home made" drums...Wooden sticks and the classroom garbage can.  At the very end of the day we took out Mr. Parachute and played a few games "Cat and Mouse", "Switch", and "Popcorn".

Indoor Play!

We are not going to let the cold weather stop us from moving and grooving!  In the Community Room had a lot of action this week!  We scooted on the dollies on our tushes, bellies and knees.  Bounced on balls, ran up and down the ramp/stairs,  jumped and rolled on the matted cylinder.  In the classroom we played "Squirrel in the Tree".  Which is a non competitive movement game that encourages cooperation, problem solving and sharing.

Hopefully this cold weather will "brake" over the weekend!

What a life for Chester!

The life of Chester...Chester's social life is unbelievable! That young Raccoon is a social butterfly! He spent last weekend at Josh's house. Chester went boot shopping, went to Temple, had a PJ party and danced the night away...That guys got some good moves! It was hard for Josh to bring Chester back to school, he wanted Chester to stay forever! Josh will get another turn to bring Chester home next year...2013!

No trolls under this bridge, just the rug!

Today was a day for using our bodies in fun ways.  Keshet children enjoyed climbing up the stairs, balancing on the top, and walking down the other side.  With no railing to hold, it's quite a challenge for a toddler.  Some kids found this to be rather a good way to spend the morning.  Just look at Isabella's expression of delight as she sprung off the last step!  Beyond gross motor development and practice with balance, the kids worked at taking turns - making sure that each child had a turn - and going to the back of the line to wait for her next turn.  

Shooting hoops together!

Let's shoot some hoops!

Day 3 Recycled Art!

The recycled art took on a whole new look as the children painted it with glue and glitter!

Outside Classroom!

"What can we do with a block of ice, salt, eyedroppers and watercolors?" Here is what the children had to say..."The salt will make the ice white and the watercolors will make the ice turn all different colors."

The children really enjoyed watching the ice turn all different colors. If we looked closely at times during the activity, we could see "white smoke" rising from the ice block covered in the colorful salt.

Tie-Dye Fun!

Today the Tel Aviv class tie-dyed out shirts for Shalom day!! After our week long investigation of color mixing, the class had the daunting task of picking a color for the T shirts. We had every member of the class pick the color they wanted. We had two votes for blue, purple and orange. Then we had another vote where you had to pick one of the three. After that we had a third vote that was a blue-orange run off and the winner was…ORANGE!

Before school today Hannah and I experimented with mixing red, pink and yellow together to make different shades of orange. We tested them after we added a bit more of a color.  We mixed red and yellow and I would ask Hannah what color it was and she would respond Orange. Then we mixed pink and yellow and I asked her what color it was and it was also orange! It was neat to look at all the shades of a color and we found it was very tricky to make the exact same color two times in a row. We picked two oranges we like and used them as tie-dye for the class.

Tie-dying was great fun and the class loved going outside for some messy art fun. Each child had their own technique some would stand back and spray their shirts while the shirt rested on the ground and others would hold the shirt in their hand and very carefully add the paint to cover any and all white spaces. Since we had two different oranges they had to take turns to make sure that each kid got a chance with both colors. It was extra hard to take turns when there were three kids and two bottles. Even though their excitement they were able to wait and they enjoyed watching their friends tie-dye as well.  Tomorrow we will take off the rubber bands and see the neat patterns and designs we have created.

We can’t wait!

Making Challah

Rohan spent some time with the Rainbows today making Challah. Everyone was very eager to help and get a turn to pour, mix, and stir in all of the ingredients such as sugar, flour, salt, honey, and water. The best part besides helping to add the ingredients was tasting the honey. Yummy, it was so sweet!

Peer Teaching!

One hockey stick and 6 children. "Who wants a turn to use it! What should we do?" Share it said one child, then another and a few more after that! Some of the children knew how to hold the hockey stick, and some needed a lesson on how to hold the stick properly. Jake took the lead. "I can show you how to hold the stick!" Zach chimed in with, "I can show you too, I play street hockey and ice hockey!" Both Jake and Zach were more than pleased to help the other children! It was a sight to behold!

We better ask Ellen to order a few more hockey sticks!

Cutting, Stirring, and Mixing

The Rainbows helped to make the tuna casserole today for Rosie's Place. At first nobody wanted to help so Nancy started cutting up the cheese at the table. I looked over at her and commented, "Nancy, you're all alone over there." Upon hearing this, Josh exclaimed, "I want to help", as did Sami and then Audrey and Sophie. Soon all the Rainbows were participating in this communal project. They were so proud as they carefully cut and sliced the cheese and butter, and then combined these ingredients into the pot. They patiently waited for their turn when it was time to stir all the ingredients together. Everybody was focused and very interested with each step. We look forward to next month when we will make another casserole.

A new way to have fun with math

The Kohavim children have been having a lot of fun with our new math game. We adapted the instructions some to fit the developmental level of our kids. Since so many children have wanted to play, we divide the group in to teams. Two children on a team take turns rolling the number cube. If, for example, one child rolls a 1 and his teammate roles a 2, they decide whether they want to put a color frame around the number 12 or 21. There are many variations to the game which we will try as time goes on. Another way to play is to add or subtract the two numbers and frame the sum or difference. The children have been helping each other by giving hints and suggestions. It has been a great way to tell what numbers they know, which ones are confusing, and what we need to work on more. One of the biggest challenges has not involved the math. It has to do with teamwork, and it's something we will write about in another blog.

Different Stages Of Play

Savita brought a new puzzle to school today with different forms of transportation. First, the puzzle was on the table and Sophie worked on her own to put it together engaging in solo play. Then Jack brought the puzzle to the rug and tried to work on it. He needed some assistance, so Josh came over to help. Now the boys were involved in dyad play. They worked hard to put the pieces in but still needed some help. Grayden joined them and now they were doing some small group play. In the beginning of the school year, the Rainbows were in the parallel play stage (playing alongside one another). It is great to see the Rainbows emerging into the different play stages, and we are excited to see how the different stages evolve throughout the year!

Edible Dirt?

Edible Dirt

-chocolate pudding(dirt)
-graham crackers(sand)
-small pretzels(tiny sticks or mulch)
-one or two gummy worms
-one plastic clear up