Encouraging Planning and Reflection During Play Time

We believe in providing opportunities for children to actively plan for and reflect upon their experiences together during play time. By thinking about, articulating, and sharing what they do independently and cooperatively, children can deepen their thinking towards their learning in the classroom.

Today we had the children view our class blog together using the Smart Board in the library. We looked at the marble maze, play dough, and survey posts from yesterday. Children featured in the photos and videos discussed what they had done at the various classroom centers. We then talked about how those centers could be revisited again today.

Children who visited the science center immediately began making marble mazes again, but what we noticed were the intricacies used in the designs of the mazes. They were much more complex as children integrated the strategies we discussed (using cubes as towers, angling tubes to be used as ramps, using multiple marbles at once) while viewing the Smart Board.

Some children took their knowledge of the marble mazes and experimented with materials at the building center. It was interesting to observe!

The children also expressed an interest in creating holiday cookies and selling them at a bake sale again. Collectively we agreed that the drama center would be turned into a bakery. The playdough and various playdough tools were brought to the center, play money and writing materials were added, and children spent time baking and then selling holiday cookies and cakes. Building on prior experiences (the flower shop, laundromat) they quickly organized the center so there was a baking area, a selling area, and a writing area. Someone made an open/closed sign so that when the cookies were 'baking' the shop could be closed to customers. The depth of the children's interactions and play was wonderful to observe!  They exhibited such growth in their oral language abilities and cooperation!

Marble Mazes

We encourage our children to do a lot of exploration with various materials in our classroom. After providing an opportunity for them to explore store-bought marble mazes yesterday, the children spent some time today creating their own marble obstacles.

Many children were fascinated with the complicated mazes, spending much of their time maneouvering the marble through the maze and traps until they reached the end of the game. Some spent their whole play time with this game - by themselves or with a friend cheering them on.

Today we placed a variety of materials out for the children - paper tubes, sticky tack, trays, and marbles. The children were invited to use the sticky tack to place the tubes in various spots on the trays. The nature of the sticky tack allows it to be reused numerous times which means that if a child was unhappy with how the marble maze has been created they can try again. This proved to be a very popular center with many children. Obstacles were created and tested multiple times. Mr. Mills even stopped by!

It was interesting to see the children experimenting with the materials. The following picture shows a child wanting to create a ramp-like tunnel for the marble to travel down. She realized that there was more support for the tube if she placed it on top of the corner of the box instead of just a side.

The children got tricky and started exploring what would happen if they used multiple marbles in the maze. One child put sticky tack inside the tubes to act as a secret trap for the marbles that he had to maneouver around. Their ideas were amazing and this activity was great for promoting the building of student hand-eye coordination. In the afternoon the children built scaffolding for their ramps so the tubes could be placed high above the tray.

And of course there's always a little bit of silliness thrown into any of our activities!

What a great activity to get our children exploring and experimenting with various classroom materials. This might be an activity that you want to do together with your child at home. Thank you to Mrs. Bombadier for a great idea!

Holiday Playdough

We had cinnimon and nutmeg scented playdough out today. The children had fun pretending to bake holiday cakes and cookies.

A nearby shelf was used to "bake" the items.

Once all the cookies were baked the children had a 'bake sale' to sell the items to others in our classroom.

To make this playdough at home:

1 cup flour
1/2 cup salt
1 tablespoon cream of tartar
1 cup water
a hearty sprinkle of holiday spices (allspice, cinnimon, nutmeg, etc.)

Mix together well. Continue to add in extra flour and knead until the desired consistency is reached. We triple the recipe for a class batch.

Class Surveys

Many children spent time today conducting their own surveys. We placed paper and clipboards out at the math center in the hopes of enticing them into some surveying.

It was interesting to see what they asked of their peers...

"Do you like Christmas? Yes or No."

"Do you like cats or dogs?"

"Do you like cats or bats?"

"Do you like regular trucks or semi-trucks?"

Everyone was very eager to write their name on a survey.

Once each name was included on the list, the child conducting the survey was eager to see which choice was the most popular.

Lost and Found Winter Items

Families,

We have a large number of unclaimed winter items (hats, gloves, scarves) in a bin outside our classroom door. We will ask the children to look the items over before the holiday break. If your child is missing a specific item, please prep them by reminding them of what it is they are missing and what it looks like so that they can identify belongings before the school closes for the winter holiday.

Also, this Friday is a school spirit day. Please remember to wear red and green clothing!

Thank you!

Coloured Salt Artwork

We made some interesting salt art today. The children created designs on black paper using glue sticks.

Once the glue designs were created the children coated them with fine table salt, taking care to shake off any extra. Using pipettes and coloured water (blue, yellow, and red) the children dropped colour onto the salt designs.  They realized through personal investigations that the salt drew the water towards it, so if they placed just one drop of colour into the middle of the salt, the colour would slowly spread to a large area around the drop. The colours mixed into beautiful designs! Some children experimented with using two droppers at once so that new colours were created. (Thank you to Mrs. Freeman for a great idea!)

Some of the finished pieces included:

Because of the nature of the salt, when your child brings this art home much may have fallen off the paper. Although this was an art activity, we were more interested in the experince and potential for investigation it provided. Why don't you ask your child to explain how (s)he made this artwork and what the salt and water did when it comes home?