The Garden Club Invited Us to Visit

On our way to have some gross motor fun in the Community Room, several members of the Garden Club asked if we would like to walk through Simon Hall and see all the beautiful flowers. It was hard for the children to believe that every flower they saw was real. There were some amazing specimens. It's so nice when the different parts of the TBSCC community cross paths like this.
Thank you ladies for the invite!

Marker caps: they're not just for keeping markers fresh!

Over the last few days, the Scientist class has been abuzz with flying objects. No I'm not talking about planes and helicopters, or even bugs...but marker caps!!

On Monday, Daniel spent a long time trying to master the art of spinning marker tops. He focused on what he could do to manipulate the path of the caps, the distance they go, how they spin, and where they land.

Today Daniel showed me all the different ways he could flip a marker cap. During free play, he let his classmates in on his secrets, and soon, there was a whole table of marker tops spinning!

-Alison Simpson

Our Circle of Friendship

Today the children made connecting handprints as part of our circle of friendship. Once we get a handprint from each child, we will fill in the circle with their thoughts about what makes a good friend. Thanks to Julia for helping with this activity today.

The new Scientist bakery!

On Monday of this week, the Scientists were the lucky recipients of a new bakery area for our classroom! Our Scientists are very intrigued by the ins and outs of bakeries, the payment methods, and all things food. This fantastic new dramatic play area gives our Scientists a new outlet for make-believe play! The bakery is compiled of an oven, a storage cupboard as well as menu display area, the necessary baking needs, and of course, lots and lots of food!

The children take turns baking, being the cashier, and being the customer. Some have taken a fancy to particular jobs, but we work together to make sure that everyone who wants a turn gets to have a turn. We worked collaboratively to make a list of rules to allow everyone to have a great cooking and dining experience.

Our Scientists are very generous. If you come in while the Scientist bakery is open, there is a very high chance that someone will come over to take your order; anything you can imagine! You will also most likely be offered a variety of fruits, vegetables, cupcakes, pizza, and ice cream for your dining pleasure.

The last thing left to do? Create a name for our new play space! Thank you so much Ellen for creating this awesome and new favorite spot in our classroom.

-Alison Simpson

Scientists vs. The Big Snow!

What do we do when an impending blizzard is upon us?? We go out and play in it while we can of course!! The Scientist class decided to go outside and play in the snow today while it was snowing, and I think that the snowfall definitely added to the joy that was had!

The boys had a lot of fun with the super slippery slides. The best part? When you fell off at the bottom, you just landed in the snow! The boys enjoyed the new-found speed on the slides.

A huge ice block was also found on the playground. Some of our friends worked together to flip the block to see what was on the other side. And to their surprise, there was more ice!

One of the sillier things on the playground with the large amount of snow we have are the swings! The snow actually comes up to the bottom of the swings, making them only usable as a seat! It's fun to try and swing on them though, as Lucas is showing here.

I'm not sure who started work on this tunnel, but the Scientists were all over working on it today! There is an icy snowy tunnel or cave that has been constructed and our Scientists helped make it deeper and wider by digging it out today.

Whether it was attempting to swing on the swings or digging in the snow, our Scientists did a great job working cooperatively together and had a blast out in our new snow.

-Alison Simpson

The Snowy Day

What is there to do on a Snowy Day? You can find out in Ezra Jack Keats' classic story The Snowy Day which won a Caldecott medal back in 1963. It was good fun to share at circle this morning. The little boy in the story explores the winter wonderland he awakens to by experimenting with the snow in a number of different ways.

We asked the children whether they would like to build a snowman or make a snow angel in the fresh snow that's falling today. Some of them told us about the icicles that are dripping at their houses.

The Rainbows are always interested in the process of measuring ingredients and stirring to combine them. Today the children took time to make some bran muffins with raisins which they ate along with some fresh pears for snack.

Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?

During choice time, some of the children began singing "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?" Shortly after, they began to work on building a cage for the wolf to go into when they caught him. During the building time, Josh got the calculator and began punching numbers into. He would then announce regularly how many minutes and seconds were left until they were going to catch the wolf and put him into the cage. Jay and Isaac worked creatively throughout the entire endeavor to make this "new home" for the "Big Bad Wolf."