A Quick Glimpse into EE5

 

We are all about buildings and constructions these days...either from recycled materials, blocks, or whatever else we can get our hands on.  It started with our igloo.  We are building it with recycled milk jugs and hot glue.  That's it.  It's looking pretty good so far.  We will be using it as a private space to read or have a few minutes alone when it's done, meanwhile, the class is using it for all kinds of things....

 

 

 

 

We are experimenting with adding "loose parts" to our play.  After constructing some buildings on a street, these girls added a stone path (we read a lot of fairy tales...) to some of them.



 

 

 

 

 

Meanwhile, in the science center....we are observing some slides of insects through a microscope, and representing what we see

 

 

 

 

 

 

In dramatic play a child was very interested in a doctor's office visit that she had experienced, so we set up a doctor's office so the children could take care of the stuffed animals and baby dolls in our classroom (by popular vote). We made a list of the services that we want to offer, which include looking at their teeth, in their ears, checking out their tummies and paws, listening to their hearts, giving shots and medicine, and the best part is... everything costs $1.  That's a bargain for such quality care.

 

 

A patient waits in the waiting area.

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

Making paper airplanes is really great for fine motor skills and problem solving, cooperation, negotiation for materials, and they are fun too.

 

We made yummy smelling cherry play dough and added some glitter for some extra sensory fun.  Stop by and take a whiff... or sit and play with it. 

 

Art center...STILL loving the recycling basket for making things.

 

College student add so much to our classroom, this one is reading and discussing books with a couple of children.

 

 



 

I just got back from presenting a workshop at an early childhood conference in New Orleans.  My session was entitled "A Day in the Life of a Nature-Based Classroom".  It went really well, although I really missed my pumpkins.  I came back with some new ideas to implement in our classroom.   

Meanwhile, we have been doing some pretty cool things here.  I wish I could get pictures of everything we do, but that's pretty difficult, so I do what I can...

Smokey the Bear came to our school with some Forest Rangers to talk to us about fire safety.  The kids LOVED IT! 

 

 

 We got to sit in the fire truck...

 

 

 

Using the fire hose was really cool....

 

 

 

Continuing on with our Recycling Project, we are getting pretty creative with the recyclables that are coming in.  Thank you so much to the parents who keep filling our recycling basket as fast as we can use up the "good stuff".  They made animal noses and ears this particular day.  How do they come up with this stuff?

 

 

 

 

 

We have gotten some new musical instruments in our classroom, which are really wonderful and the kids are enjoying them.  We are practicing some common songs and will soon videotape them and post them on here, which I think will be fun.  I know the kids are enjoying looking at the blog and some are even making suggestions about what to put on here!  

 

 



In small group time, we had one table that worked with letters, the children looked for the letters in their names and friends' names, teachers names, and other words they know.  This is a really good activity because we can see exactly who needs help, who is ready for the next step, and it's open ended; meaning that we can work with each child right where they are. 

 

 

 

In another center, Ms. Mandy (visiting from another classroom) provided support while some children wrote and illustrated ideas about recycling.  These are some of my favorite types of activities because you get to really hear and discuss their ideas--some of which are incorrect, but most of which are amazingly insightful.  (And if they do have incorrect ideas, we will continue to ask them questions and help them to do research to find the correct information.)

 



 



Shaving Cream Marbling...



I would like to talk about art a little bit.  In our classroom, art is meant for the children to EXPERIENCE.  The finished product is not the point at all.  You will definitely see some unusual materials, processes, etc. in our classroom, but it's about the process for us.  You probably think I'm crazy to let 20 preschool children have access to all the art supplies all the time.  I'll accept that.  Everything in our classroom (except extra materials) is within every child's reach.  We usually have some method ready for the children to try, but they know they are always free to get other materials out, either at the art table or at another one if the art table is full.  

Sometimes we will set up easel painting with our handy portable "easels"--made by Ms. Amie out of recycled boxes (I'm all about saving the earth...one recycled box at a time)--at the art table with a still life of something from our project or something interesting from out in the garden.  If children choose not to paint, that's okay, they can use other materials if they want to.  Art should be a representation of how that child feels at that moment.  Who am I to tell them that the medium "should be" paint?  I don't want anyone else telling me how to feel, do you?

So....on to something pretty cool that we did this week.  It took a couple of days for everyone to get a chance...like I said, we are interested in the process.  

We did a little Shaving Cream Marbling this week.  First we spread a thin layer of shaving cream onto the trays. 



 Next, the friends squeezed little dots of paint onto the shaving cream....

We used a craft stick to swirl the paint dots around in the shaving cream...

We gently laid our paper onto the tray and patted it down into the shaving cream...

We used recycled gift cards to scrape the shaving cream off the paper...some of the children were disturbed that it looked like a big mess at this point.  But once the shaving cream is scraped off....

This leaves the paint swirls on the paper.  Very pretty!

We displayed them on the Art Gallery Board in our classroom--don't they look wonderful?

I'm always amazed at how different everyone's art looks.  Not that I would really expect them to look all the same, but we all basically did the same method, the same steps, and they are VASTLY different.

I'm sure we will be discussing art again soon, but in the meantime, I want to know if any of you have any comments about art in general or this project in particular.  I am trying to share these with my class, so please leave comments.  I think our class would love it.



487 Questions....

Did you know that the average preschooler asks 487 questions a day?  No wonder my ears are tired at the end of the day!

This is a day in the life of our classroom...kind of. 

In our dramatic play center, we have set up a Hot Cocoa Café, which is very popular.  We need workers who take orders, make hot cocoa for customers, adding ingredients to order, customers to buy and take orders out.  The kids are loving this, and I'm trying to think of more ways to add to this area.

 

 

We are also working on a recycling project and friends brought all kinds of recyclables in to share--they were really piling up in spite of the kids' using them to make things every day.  Ms. Maria suggested robots and we were off!

 



 

 

In another center, children were playing with cars in the garage....

 

In the sensory sink, we had some "snow" (not much of that to be found here in Florida!) and arctic animals.

We also made REAL hot chocolate on our first cool day of the year--hard to believe that happened on January 7th!  We measured the ingredients, stirred it all up and cooked it in the crock pot right in our classroom all morning.  We even served it with peppermint marshmallows...

This isn't all that we did in our classroom, but our college students aren't back yet so we don't have our usual photographers for EVERYTHING.  We are pretty lucky that way usually. 



Happy New Year!

  One thing I'm particularly proud of is that we have started a RECYCLING project that I foresee continuing for the rest of the year.  Of course, this depends on the interest of the class.  Once they lose interest, there's no sense in continuing a study, we can move onto something they ARE interested in.  But so far, they have really enjoyed repurposing recyclable items.  

This is our Christmas tree in our classroom decorated COMPLETELY with recycled ornaments.  They are water bottles.  Can you believe it?  GORGEOUS!!!!

The children also made their own glitter bottles to take home.  The photo doesn't really do justice as to how lovely they are, but you can definitely see the sparkle. 

We discussed before the break that they would like to build an igloo from milk jugs, so we will be doing this in the New Year.  Look for pictures.