education through imagination: March 2011

MARCH 2011...

This is outside play...sometimes the importance of gross motor skill is overlooked what with all the VPK standards and school readiness skills that must be taught but this too is as important. Teaching our little ones today the importance of good nutriotion and plenty of movement and exercise is vital to the health of our future!!

We had a birthday....so yes the occasional sewwt is ok...don't worry though our nutritional snack was also given....lol

We had our plant theme this month and boy did we plant.

This is a pic of a strawberry plant,onions,potatoes,squash and beans.

corn is also planted in there...as well as two tomatoe plants

OH...we had a little green visitor causing a stir....that little leprechaun...he turned our coolwhip green that was to be for our pots o gold cooking activity....then when we went outside he turned our water table water green.....then our pt. co-teacher arrived all blinged out with jewels and a big(catn the hatsize) green hat and crazy green shirt on....she said the leprechaun ran by as she arrived and she tried to grab him but all she caught was his hat and her shirt turned green and she had all the bling on her neck.....lol....SO we thought all was well until we started lunch and out came our cook with green milk......that pesky little guy did it AGAIN....the kids had SOOO much fun.....and yep we did too!

We had a picnic....a stomache virus hit the school and this was a day of only 8 out of 17 kids so we said ...why not have a picnic outside......they had a blast!

This was our last week for yellow so i changed it uo and made a scoop and sift tray...renewed the whole concept and the kids played forever with them!

reptile and amphibian tray..

We even got busy and held a sign that will be going to the people who are in charge of seeing to it that the funding stays or goes for our program......and boy does this sign say it ALL!!!!

Jan thru Feb. 2011

Transportation month.....the trainset was brought out for by rail

We made airplanes as a cooking activity for By Air.

This was On Wheels week....

For Valentines week we made frienship heart cookies for our cooking activity.

I used pink because that was the color of the month and of course heart was our shape of the month.....all teachable moments.

Here is shaving cream trays...the trays allow for spacial awareness...and of course I tinted the shave cream pink for clor of the month.

This is a graet literacy activity......gripping a pencil at this time was difficult but look how well he made his R ....building confidence for writing skills.

this was opposites week. I put the cotton balls (soft) and black rocks (hard) in the table...also figured the color contrast would be a great teachable moment ....the kids decided to put the scale in table....they did sort the cotton and rocks...heavier and light but was unable to get a pic in time.....love it when they extend what I add to centers.

Again opposites week.....sink/float activity. YES this is water IN the classroom.....any type of tub will work....get that water in your room....set boundaries...the kids WILL learn where the water belongs!!!

I tiold you a few posts back that by Dec. the real woodworking would begin.....well here it is....and boy is it LOUD!!!!

Water table outside....

I did a small workshop/presentation about "tray play" this is a tray I set up for plants theme..

another for building fine motor....again pink for color of the month...and hearts for shape..

I set this up early for picture purposes...it was two weeks away but this was for bugs and insects theme....Our color of the month changed so I dyed rice yellow and used that as a medium....

December 2010

Bulletin board ffor the holidays.....The kids covered it with their artwork throughout the month.

really want to look in to getting a bigger tree...

moved some centers around

new teacher area....

Moved the science are much more room there now...if there are any behavor issues in your center be sure to look at how the room and centers are set up....the space and placement are crucial to cutting down on behavior issues.

This is the front room of the building. If you go to the right around the corner there is another room just as big that has all of our centers....

Another week.....

This week we had a lot of surprises...this was a last minute activity a parent asked if she could do with the kids....its a slime activity with cornstarch and water......and boy was it messy ...the kids LOVED IT!

YES dads the boys play dress up and with the babies too.......creating some well rounded men..

This was in our inside sand/water table...i love mud!

This was a firetruck art activity....

Remember it isn't about the outcome of the project but more how the kids got to the final outcome.....I rarely do art projects that end up looking perfect .

OH WOW....did we have the surprise of the week on this day! We were out on the playground when this beauty appeared on our fence.The kids were amazed....the dove allowed us to get really close and even at one point went up the ramp to our door wanting inside. We fed him the first day and sure enough the next day he was still there so of course we had to feed him more bird seed....unfortunately it was Friday and by Monday when we returned there was no sign of him.

This is our hay bailes all decked out for Halloween.....thanks to my very own kids for helping me get the scarecrow stuffed and it all set up....love my 3 B's....Brannon 11, Braedon 8, and Braelon 6..........

more learning through play...

housekeeping isn't always tidy and clean....lol

structure built by a couple of boys

pizza...ymmmmmm

we had a special visitor this week......the toothfairy .....one little girl....all she could keep saying is....she is so beautiful.....

We also got a puppet show....this is really a great program done by a semi local university and their dental med students.....the kids just love it

funny little note....I knew they were coming on this day but of course got busy and it slipped my mind....we were outside on the playground and I noticed a few of the kids at the window on their toes trying to see in the building....of course I went to see what they were doing....one little irl said Ms. Andrea there is a princess ....I of course still did not remember .....I said ok...we will talk about your tiara you brought in when we go back in....she looked at me oddly....again they kept going back to the window....I again went to investigate....again the little girl said to me.....there is a real princess....a beautiful princess....in the window....at that moment it HIT me....duh.....the toothfairy ....this little girl was prescious.....lol!!