Sledding!

The children met today's snowfall with such excitement! We went sledding on Mt. Suzuki! 

This was such a great activity for encouraging cooperation among the children! The worked together to be successful in every aspect of this activity - carrying the sleds from the play yard to the hill, propelling themselves down the hill in the sled, and carrying the sled up to the top again. 

The children were full of smiles! The joy in this activity was evident throughout and it was exciting for many to tell us that this was the first time they had gone sledding!

This activity was also great exercise. The children were responsible for carrying their sleds back to the top of the hill after sledding down. This was great for gross motor development (and keeping warm in the chilly weather).

We can't wait for more snow to fall so we can do this again!

Shape Scavenger Hunt

The children have expressed an interest in finding shapes in our environment. We thought it would be fun to go on a shape scavenger hunt around our school.

The children worked in pairs and used a clipboard to keep a record of what shapes they observed around the school.  Many used tallies to record their findings. 

We were amazed at where the children noticed shapes!

Shaving Cream Building

We put out two materials on the table today and were curious to see what the children would do. Shaving cream and blocks are an unlikely combination but 'oh so' exciting!

Although this can be a messy activity, the  shaving cream easily washes from skin and clothing. The children generated many hypotheses for why they thought the blocks stuck together so well with the shaving cream. 

This is a fun activity for your child to do in the tub at bath time if they enjoyed it at school and are eager to try it again!

Electrical Safety

We had an entertaining presentation from Enwin regarding electrical safety around home and the neighbourhood. Why don't you ask your child to share with you some of the ways we learned to stay safe?

Self Portraits

Today we read the big book " In The Mirror" during shared reading time. 

We thought it would be interesting to set up an art provocation for the children and ask them to consider what they saw in their mirror.  

The children were very eager to participate and took some time examining their reflections. This lead to some great conversations about facial features and expressions. 

The children had to carefully select the pastels that best represented their interpretation of what they observed. 

Their attention to detail and enthusiasm for the task were inspiring!

We can't wait to see what other portraits are drawn at this centre for the rest of the week!

Baking Fun!

We had some fun baking sugar cookies in our room today in preparation for next week's holiday get together!

It was an easy recipe that you might want to try at home!

There was much excitement as the children measured, mixed, rolled, and cut out festive cookies. 

We can't wait to try them!

Snow!

The children were so excited to see the large snowflakes that fell this morning! "How many can you catch?" Ms. Jamrog challenged them. They quickly got busy catching and counting the beautiful flakes!

Seasonal Sensory Bin

We invited the children to explore some small seasonal objects in the sensory table. We were curious to see what they would do or create with the new materials. 

The children were very excited and spent much time discussing the characteristics of the objects with each other. 

We heard wonderful descriptors of the materials - shiny, bumpy, smooth, prickly, and glittery. 

The children pretended to wrap presents and give them to each other. 

They even decorated the tiny tree!

So much fun and so great for promoting collaboration and sharing too!

Spider Playscapes

The children have been fascinated with spiders and how they make webs. We have put out a number of spider Playscapes, both inside and outside, in order to encourage the children to dramatize what they are learning about spiders. We are hoping regular handling of the plastic spiders will grow a sense of comfort and respect for spiders next time children find a real one in their house or yard.