The Bunnies have been talking and learning about shapes. First, triangles and circles. The children painted some 3-D triangles with paint and of course, a little glitter. This group loves 3-D stuff in art! Also we read the book Ten Black Dots focusing on all the things you could make with circles. Then each Bunny made their own page for a class book. Owen was just beginning his page of four balloons in the photo.
Earlier, I referred to the book Mouse Paint which is great for exploring color mixing. We did a bit of our own mouse paint in art. We dipped little mice (they look real, don't they!) in red, yellow and blue paint and then walked them across the white paper. Super fun!
I'm thinking that a few Bunny Rabbit moms have car floorboards that look like a little beach. 
We've been reading books about colors and color mixing. Mouse Paint is a wonderful story that nicely illustrates the three primary colors mixing into three secondary colors. We did a little science experiment so the Bunnies could see colors mixing in slow motion. We used clear pitchers filled with water. I squirted a layer of shaving cream on top of the water and then the children suggested color combinations to mix together. I dripped concentrated liquid watercolors on the shaving cream. Eventually the watercolors trickle down into the water, but the shaving cream slows the process down and allows for easy viewing of the colors blending together. 
So the Bunnies are really good at reading and enjoying books. The cleaning up part...umm...not so much.
For a couple of months now, a few Bunny girls have been hooked on making snowflakes. I showed Karis how to make one from construction paper one day. She taught the other girls how to make them, and she even dictated instructions for me to write so her mother could make snowflakes, too. She was convinced her mommy did not know how! After a few weeks of construction paper (which is thick when folded), I gave the girls coffee filters. Whew - they were much easier to cut. Oh my, they've made hundreds of snowflakes!
Recently we had some really neat spinning tops in our sensory table. Each top had a marker tip on the end so when it spun, the children could see the pattern the top made on paper. As you can see from the marks on the paper, some children could make the tops spin and some could not. No matter. It was fun anyway! One of the Bunnies said the top made a tornado. Do you see it?
We have these funny building components in our room. We call them "golfball builders", but I'm sure they have another name. They look like they have a golfball on one end, and the other end has a two pronged hook. They link together like a ball joint. At the beginning of the year hardly anyone could figure out how to play with these. Now that we are in the latter part of the year, these have become more interesting! Weston made glasses for me to wear, and Evan had to try them on, too. So cool!!
In the Bunny Rabbit class there are conflicts. Conflicts are completely normal. Learning how to work them out can be a challenge. There can be many sources of conflict - possession, jealousy, impatience, curiosity, over-enthusiasm. Sometimes, the conflict is simply accidental. In the picture above Karis had carefully stacked up the people blocks to measure them. Weston came over to check out what was going on and accidentally bumped the table causing, well, you know what! Of course Karis wasn't happy about having her hard work knocked over. Weston certainly didn't mean to knock them over. Hmmm - what to do, what to do?? I happened to be nearby and suggested to Karis that she tell Weston how she had set them up and he could reconstruct it for her. Let me tell you Karis took her role seriously and gave fantastic directions. Weston took his job seriously too, and built it back exactly as she told him. Conflict resolved! 
Pet Vet is always a winner activity year after year. I must say that this group of Bunny Rabbits was particularly in LOVE with our pet vet activities. Our stuffed bunnies and puppies got all the vaccinations they could ever hope to need. Their ears got thorough inspections and they spent a fair amount of time in their crates travelling around the room. Everyone can rest assured that our stuffed friends are healthy!
Celebrating and experiencing our western heritage is part of our culture here in our state. At the preschool level those experiences help form ideas and concepts of history at a very introductory level. 
February is the month for LOVE! The Bunny Rabbits painted large hearts with race cars -their wheels made really cool tracks. The Bunnies also decorated their own Valentine bags and exchanged Valentines with their friends. Some of the children could even spell LOVE using some die cut letters in our office center.
The Bunnies learned to sew. It is very easy for little children to learn IF you give them the right supplies. We use burlap, a large embroidery or quilting hoop, a large plastic needle, and yarn or other neat fibers. All the grown up does is tie the knot and give some verbal directions like "Go up from the bottom" and "Go down through the top". Sew simple!!
We spent some time exploring what it must have been like for Jesus when he was a boy. We had a book that we discussed that showed pictures of modern life and what life must have been like thousands of years ago. It was a great way to practice comparing and contrasting. 
This is a game called Feed the Bunny. There is a little basket, about 24 little carrots, a pair of tongs, and a bunny face with an open mouth. (You can only see the back of the bunny in the photo.) At the beginning of the year very few children could operate the tongs well enough to pick up a carrot, transfer it to the bunny's mouth without dropping it, feed it to the bunny through the little mouth, release the carrot, remove the tongs and do it over and over again. Now it's February and EVERY child can do it!!
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.
