After a long absence, Zoe, the guinea pig from Mrs. Magee's Zebra class, came for a visit. We were all amazed at how much Zoe had grown since she was last a guest in our Bunny class. 
Owen is serious about tape. Notice the double dispensers!
Recently we replaced our beloved playdough with Floam. Floam is an interesting thing - hard to describe. It's like teen tiny little sticky balls. 
When we have read a book in class as a group, we leave it out on the book shelf for children to explore on their own for a few more weeks. It's nice to hear the children chat about books they've read!
The Bunnies painted Silly Sally at the easel. They used Q-tips as paint brushes.
The children noticed that two of our tables were bare. To their surprise, art was UNDER the table. They crawled under and drew all over butcher paper taped to the underside of the table. Mrs. O'Connor and Mrs. Magee got under there, too, but there is no photographic evidence. Just take our word for it!! heehee.
Puzzles and games were also under the table. Changing the orientation and position of the children's bodies requires them to use different muscles than they would use if they were sitting upright in a chair.
Mason and Owen had a blast playing with cold weather animals in ice. The tongs helped keep their fingers from getting too cold and had the added benefit of developing their fine motor skills. I'm certain the seals and walruses had a fun day lounging on the ice in our sensory table.
We don't often have snow, so we have to find creative ways to make it ourselves. One favorite is shaving cream rubbed all over bubble wrap. The children rub it around as much as they want to, then place paper on top of the bubble wrap to make a print. With this group of Bunnies, glitter is always a necessity! Instant snow!
The children also tried out some 3-D art. They made ice houses for penguins. We used some recyclable materials from our wonderful supply closet and the Bunnies painted them with white paint. With some styrofoam as ice and die cut penguins, we wound up with an amazing neighborhood of ice houses.
We read Froggy Gets Dressed and used props to help tell the story. We had a green Froggy on the floor. Each Bunny had a piece of his clothing and had to help Froggy get dressed as the story progressed. This is a great story for developing listening skills because Froggy gets dressed and undressed many times in the story. You have to be really paying attention to participate in this story!!
We noticed this guy in the kitchen with a cool red costume and a doll in hand. The kitchen is not a place we typically find this particular child. Why was he there? He has a new baby at home. Lucky for him, he has a safe, loving environment to try out his new role as big brother. Through play, he is refining his skills as big brother and training to be a great dad!
Mrs. Magee showed Mason and some other kids how to make fishing poles with tinker toys.
Three girls played happily in the kitchen for most of the morning.
In art Weston rolled some odd balls around in paint and then in a box to make cool prints on his paper. When he was finished, he asked for some sprinkles (glitter!) to add to his art. I think we can all agree that sprinkles make everything better!
Mrs. Magee and Mrs. O'Connor wish you a very Merry Christmas filled with treasures and love and laughter!
Each Bunny put their cup on the tray and Mrs. O'Connor filled each cup with water. Right away, we began to notice some changes. The peppermints floated and everyone saw tiny little bubbles. We set the tray aside while we had our music time with Miss Cruise.
After music, we checked the tray again and what a big change! The water was bright pink and the peppermints were almost gone. One Bunny suggested they melted, so we had a brief conversation about the difference between melting and dissolving. The peppermints needed a little more time in the water so we headed outside to play.
When we returned to the room, the children discovered that the peppermints were all gone! They got their cups to smell and taste what was inside. It was peppermint water! Sweet and tasty!
Is this science? You bet! We followed the scientific method - hypothesizing, observing, concluding.
Here is our great pumpkin happy, happy in Mrs. O'Connor's yard. It was growing so well until...
We read a story called "Jesus, Me and My Christmas Tree". It is a vibrant book in the shape of a tree that explains why we put certain decorations on our trees. This story is represented with one of the amazing story bags from the book fair, so we got to act out the story. Each child had a component of the tree and added it as the story progressed.
In our office center, there have been quite a few children making their own Christmas cards. We have cards from Christmases past donated to the school and the Bunnies "enhance" them with a personal touch by using stickers, stamps, markers, or whatever the decide they need.
If you have old Christmas cards at home, consider letting your children have them along with some scissors and other simple materials. They will transform those old cards into something completely different in the blink of an eye!!
"Huuunh. What's this big box for?"
"I can hide in it."
"Now there are two boys in the box." 
In Bunny Rabbit class, we began our Advent season by making some decorations. The children used utensils and cookie cutters to decorate big trees. Since trees are something most children recognize from their homes, it's a good place to start. We have also begun to talk about Mary and Joseph and their baby boy, Jesus. We discussed the three gifts that the Wise Men brought to Jesus and we asked the children "If you could give Baby Jesus a present, what would you give Him?" Their responses are posted in window of the classroom. I promise you'll smile when you read them!!
This week in music Miss Cruise brought scarves. It was a big hit!! The Bunnies loved dancing around with their fancy, colorful scarves.
Now check it out two weeks later! Here's how it looked just before Thanksgiving. So exciting!!
The pumpkin was getting a little soft, so Mrs. O'Connor took it home and planted it in the ground. Stay tuned...
Weston B. has a Tippy Turtle. The goal is to try to put the cylinder pieces on the tummy without the turtle tipping over. It's tough. Weston has figured out how to do it, but not perfectly. That's fine! Strategy is what we are after. If Weston can figure out what to do and attempt to execute his plan, then he is solving a puzzle.
Owen and Faith have a gigantic Mr. Potato Head as well as several smaller Potato Heads. There are pieces of different sizes and function scattered around. If they can figure out how to put pieces on the different size Potato Heads, then they are solving a puzzle. It doesn't much matter if the ears don't match or there are two left arms. Strategy and planning are the indicators of solving a puzzle.
Susannah has a set of gears. This is an example of a puzzle that can be solved in infinite ways. She could put the pieces in hundreds of combinations and still get the desired result - moving parts. Notice she is placing the gears flat on the base. In the foreground there are some vertical gears made by other children. Both methods are examples of solving puzzles.
The children in the Bunny Rabbit class are developing their fine motor skills every single day. They have endless opportunities to strengthen their hand muscles and use their little fingers. The picture above shows Weston finishing up a drawing. He used his hands to color, fold the paper, cut some string and "write" on the outside. Each of these took Weston's time and energy and planning.
Many of the children are still at the stage of snipping with scissors. They make small cuts around the perimeter of paper. This stage precedes cutting through paper from one side to another. Notice that Sofia has her fingers in the correct holes of the scissors. They work better if you get your fingers in the right places. Imagine that!
The Bunnies develop their fine motor skills daily in art. Notice that Susannah is dipping a paint brush in a tiny dish of glue, then brushing the glue onto her elephant. Using a brush helps young children control the glue better than if it was dripping out of a big bottle. 
In our literacy center, otherwise knows as our office, we have a variety of materials. Mason found a paper spider and some black pipe cleaners. He said that he wanted to make a spider web. He knew he needed a hole in the spider's tummy so he got a hole punch and asked for help to punch it. Then to create the web, he twisted the pipe cleaners together and made sure the spider was hanging down. He was so very proud! Other kids at the table noticed and wanted to make spider webs, too.
Looking for an easy fun activity at home? Let me tell you, kids love hammering!! One of the best ways to introduce hammering is to use a piece of styrofoam, a small lightweight mallet and golf tees. Any thick styrofoam will do - especially the weird pieces that come as packaging in large boxes. Sometimes we add the challenge of beads. The beads in the photos have a very large hole and the golf tee fit right in. The Bunnies had to hold the golf tee and bead still long enough to hit it with the mallet. It's super-fun and the materials are easy to gather. Try it at home!!
The annual firetruck visit is a BIG event at School for Little Children! It's very exciting to see such a huge vehicle up close. The firefighters were quite chatty this year. It's always a highlight to see the big ax and hear about chopping down doors and roofs to let smoke out. One of the firefighters showed us how he puts on his uniform - slowly, piece by piece. He compared it to dressing in a costume for Halloween. It's a gentle way to help the children understand there is a real person under all that gear! Then Kade was brave enough to try on the boots, coat and hat. To extend the learning in the classroom, we had a set of fire station legos and lots of firefighter costumes. I feel perfectly safe with all those cute little firefighters and their plastic fire extinguishers in our midst!!
After two weeks, much to our surprise, our pumpkin grew.
The Bunnies had so much fun exploring pumpkins before Halloween. We covered so many math, science and literacy concepts that I couldn't begin to list them all! Each photo is described below so you can see how many ways we can incorporate one thing - a pumpkin - into our learning.
Here's something we've not seen before in the Bunny class - someone who sews hole by hole in a running stitch. Most Bunnies choose to stitch is a completely random pattern. Susannah's going to love it when we sew on burlap with yarn. Stay tuned for that project - it's always popular.
The children have learned a new way to create art. They have learned to use the warming tray. It's just what you think it is - an old fashioned kitchen warming tray just like the one your grandma has. We cover ours with layers of paper to keep little fingers safe, but still let the warmth come through. The children put slick paper on the tray, and draw with peeled crayons. The heat melts the crayons and the children can create ribbons of smooth color across their paper. It's very soothing, and the Bunnies loved it!
We didn't bother to clean out the pumpkin (who likes that anyway?? ewwww). Everybody took turns filling up our pumpkin with dirt. Don't be concerned with all the nails you see hammered into the pumpkin - that was a completely different activity!
When the pumpkin was all full of dirt, we took it outside to the porch to water it. Plants need water and sunshine to grow, you know. I think I've mentioned before, using a squirt bottle is a great way to water plants without overwatering. Oh yes, we all took turns.
We think our pumpkin seeds will sprout right through the dirt. What do you think?
