Messless Fingerpainting Bags

The children used fingerpainting bags today to practice fingerprinting letters and drawing designs without the mess of traditional fingerpainting. To make this activity we filled large, sturdy ziplock bags with paint (and sparkles in a few), zipped the zipper, and reinforced the bag with clear tape.  The children were fascinated with how they could roll and smooth the bag. This activity appealed to a variety of our learners as it was both tactile and visual.

Animals, Animals Everywhere!

Today was another one of those fabulous days where our children's interest piqued on something special and everyone became involved in a flurry of activity regarding a certain topic!

In order to help children practice recognizing their numbers and matching objects to numerals we read one of our favourite math books, "Teeth, Tails and Tentacles" by Kevin Wormell.  The children were captivated by the interesting animals and the various characteristics of each as outlined in the book.

Many children spent time looking at the book's illustrations in detail and discussing the animals.

That lead to the idea of making our own animal masks.  Children spent time working at the art table carefully selecting their materials and discussing how to best represent their animal in mask form.

Some of our animals included:

cats

a zebra

a moose

alligators

After the masks were made the children decided that they were going to put on an animal show. Tickets were quickly made and distributed.

The show began with the words, "Ladies and Gentleman, boys and girls, at this time we are proud to present...our animals!"

Thank you Miss Drouillard!

Miss Drouillard made us a bird house to hang in our tree along with the feeders!  Hopefully this will attract some additional birds to our viewing area!  Thank you!

Snowflake Estimation

At entry time today the children were invited to examine our guessing jar and estimate how many snowflakes were inside! One child's estimation was right on - 20 snowflakes!

Some Ontario Curriculum this activity fulfilled includes:

NS1.6 begin to use information to

estimate the number in a small set

(e.g., apply knowledge of quantity,

use a common reference such as a

five frame)

Sorting Manipulatives

The children spent time today sorting little manipulatives shaped like presents. The presents were a variety of sizes and colours. During circle time we discussed the different characteristics of the manipulatives and how we could sort them. We called this our 'sorting rule'.

First we talked about what was the same and different about the objects.

The children decided to sort by size and placed the small, medium, and large presents together in the appropriate groups.

Next we sorted the objects by colour.

During free choice time the children had a chance to continue practice sorting the manipulatives.

The children got creative!

Some Ontario Curriculum these activities fulfilled includes:

DM5.1 sort, classify, and compare objects

and describe the attributes used

Our Castle

The children have been fascinated with building castles lately!  They use big blocks, small wooden blocks, legos and even paper boxes at the art center to create their own castles! Here is the most recent one - the children spent time building it together and then played in it the entire play time! It was great to watch them work together and then act in role as the various characters who might be found in a castle.

Tiny Town

The children spent much time today working together to create a tiny town on our carpet (what's become a favourite activity for many). They combined the train tracks, car mat, wooden and foam blocks, cars, and little animals together to make a real town.  Many spent their entire play time working together!

One child decided to create a movie theatre for animals. Another child helped her find a book about animals to pretend was the big video being projected on the screen. "They'll love a movie about animals!" the child explained to the other. What great thinking!

Some Ontario Curriculum fulfilled by this activity includes:

1.2 demonstrate the ability to take

turns in activities and discussions

(e.g., engage in play activities with

others, listen to peers and adults)

2.5 interact cooperatively with others

in classroom events and activities

(e.g., offer and accept help in

group situations, engage in

small- and large-group games

and activities, participate in

democratic decision making)

3.2 recognize places and buildings

within their community, both

natural and human-made, and talk

about their functions (e.g., farm,

church, hospital, mosque, sweat

lodge, arena, mine, cave)

G3.4 build three-dimensional

structures using a variety of

materials and begin to recognize

the three-dimensional figures their

structure contains