Wrapping Up Our Space Study...

We wrapped up our Space Study this week, but I had some pictures to share.  Look at these astronauts working on blast-off sequences...

 

 

 

Looking out the porthole into space...

 

 

Trying on super cool space helmets...

 

 

 

This is how astronauts sleep, but I don't think they have quite so much fun with it!  You would be SHOCKED at how much these kids know about space!

 



 

 

 

We threw together a few space sculptures, including a robotic arm, a space shuttle and several space cats.  

 

 

 

Space bingo was super popular, as are all games.  

 

 

 

So, all the kids can talk about is pumpkins and Halloween, so we are going with it.  We have a BUNCH of pumpkins in our classroom, some real, some fake, some jack 'o lanterns,  some trick or treat pumpkins, as well as a bunch of gourds.  We will be doing a TON of activities with these over the next couple of weeks.  Can't wait.  In the meantime, we filled our sensory table with straw and pumpkins and small treasures.   Yes, it's messy. Yes, it gets all over the floor.  No, we don't care.

 

We did a little writing outside this week, since the weather's been so gorgeous.  We have quite a bunch of prolific writers.

 

We also found this guy outside and followed him around while he visited all the flowers in the garden, pollinating his little heart out.  And yes, my class of four-year-olds know what pollination is and why it's important.  This is my plan to save the earth.  I also have a well-developed plan for world peace, so if you would like to know about that, message me.

 

 

We made pumpkin pie play dough this week, the kids are having fun with it already.  They love the smell.

 

Playing with pumpkin pictures on the light table and adding features to demonstrate different emotions.  

 

 

 We measured how many pumpkins tall we are....

 

We went on a spooky walk (which is very similar to a Bear Hunt).

 

Can I just point out how lucky we are to have all the grownups we have in our classroom each day?  These college students add so much to all that we do.  This is Ms. Elise, who works in our classroom twice a week and really brings something special to our classroom.  

 

 

Ms. Amanda is an intern in our classroom, and helps us all in so many ways.  

 

We also have three other interns, as well as our regular work study students, who have been in our classroom for years and help us do all the amazing things we are able to do with your children.  So, thanks!

 

 



 

Starting Our Space Study...

Overheard in the classroom:

Child, "Does anyone know whose paper this is?  They did NOT write their name on it.  What's the rule in EE5?"

Another Child, "It's TOTALLY not mine."

A third Child, "It's TOTALLY not mine either.  And the rule is...you write your name on your paper."

Original child, "Are you sure this is TOTALLY not yours?"

I can't make this stuff up.



Some of the kids were talking about the hurricane today, and it occurred to me that sometimes we don't understand stress in small children.  Think about all the preparation we all went through to get ready just in case this hurricane was bad, and how  your children may have viewed that preparation.  We all know that the hurricane didn't do much damage in our area, but the kids have no way of understanding that.  We don't know WHAT they think of any of these stressful situations.  So we gave them the opportunity to talk about it in our classroom, at our meeting (large group) and again at the writing center (small group).  I would encourage parents to do the same, just listening to what their impressions are.  Here are a couple of drawings from today about the hurricane...

 

Please notice all the swirling rain and wind.  This must have been very scary to them.  In the second picture, those shapes are trees flying around.  

 

We all did a little post-hurricane clean up out on the playground today, adding all the sticks and debris onto the compost pile.  The kids were really helpful.

 

 

 

In spite of the storms this weekend, we did come in to find MANY passion flowers blooming--red and purple.  Aren't they pretty?

 

We added a little micro-play to our science center today.  Our sensory bin is filled with black beans, planets, astronauts, rocks, space vehicles, and some other cool stuff.  It' was pretty popular today.

 

We did a little paint stamping with stars and spacemen and added a little glitter because "space is very sparkly", as one of my friends told me. 

 

Some friends used tiny blocks to build structures like the ones on the pictures.  This is a really good fine motor and problem-solving activity, and there is also some negotiation going on as well.  

Patterning with stars....