Upside Down Day

Upside Down Day is an annual event in the Bunny Rabbit Class. We have a mid-January Monday holiday so when we come back on Tuesday, we celebrate Upside Down Day. The whole thing is based on the book, Silly Sally.
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.

The real purpose of Upside Down Day is to have fun, celebrate the absurd, and shake things up a little bit.

Winter Wonderland

We started off 2010 with a Winter Wonderland! We had the perfect, super-cold weather to talk about winter.
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!!

Will we have even more cold weather? I sure hope so - there is so much to learn when it is cold!!

Brrr!

Cold weather gives children excellent sensory stimulation. Unless it is raining, we plan to take the children outside to play even when it is super chilly. We may shorten our time, but we will still go out. Please dress your children accordingly. Mittens are welcome and warm coats, rather than vests, are encouraged. Put your child's name in everything!

Role Playing

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!

Happy New Year

We had a soft re-entry back into our school routines. Our first day went well and the Bunnies seemed happy to see each other.
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!