Outdoor Enrichment

Each week, Mrs. Boone has a great activity for the children on the playground.  In the photo here, she had six different herbs for the children to experience with their senses.  Most of them are growing right in our gardens!  It was really fun to stand back and watch the children touch, smell and taste and then comment.  A few of the children recognized herbs from their moms and dads cooking at home. 
On another day, Mrs. Boone brought turkey feathers and duck calls, deer antlers and pictures of other animals with antlers.  These are all simple activities yet they are very powerful reminders of just how much can be learned from the natural world.

Sand Art

One of the ways we learned about the ocean was to experience sand.  Of course children who regularly visit playgrounds and who live near the coast know all about sand. (Being that sand winds up on the floorboards of the car, mothers know all about it, too!)  All sand is not the same.  It can have a variety of textures and shapes and sometimes even a variety of colors.  The Bunnies used glue and colored sand to make art.  They had to squeeze glue out of bottles and aim it onto their boards, then they had to use their fingers to pinch up little bits of sand and drizzle it onto the glue.  Lastly, they had to shake off the excess sand.  This very simple and FUN activity gave the children specific fine motor practice.  Squeezing, pinching and shaking actions strengthen hand muscles and increase dexterity.

Opposites

If you are looking for some fun activities to do at home with your preschooler, consider some simple concept games.  Here is one Bunny matching some 2 piece puzzles which depict opposites.  The kids this age have the basic ones mastered - happy/sad, hot/cold, wet/dry.  However, there are many others that are more complex such as full/empty, young/old, far/near, wrapped/unwrapped, just to name a few.  Consider ways you can incorporate these concepts and vocabulary as you go about your everyday life.

The Great Pumpkin Experiment

Every year in Bunny class, we explore pumpkins as part of our experiences with plants God created for us.  Nobody really wants to put their hand in a pumpkin and pull out all the gooey seeds, so we just fill ours with dirt instead.

We dutifully watered our pumpkin with a spray bottle of water each day for a couple of weeks.  Then we took it outside and planted it in our garden where it did ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.  Not even a single sprout.  So sad.  This is the first year our great pumpkin experiment failed miserably, but you know what?  We got to have interesting conversations about the possible reasons our seeds didn't sprout.  And we also got a little reminder that in the mysteries of the world God gave us, sometimes things don't grow.

Traffic

For a few weeks on the playground, the carts and buggies have been the toys of choice.  The Bunnies have been creating their own traffic rules and Dalton has been the primary overseer of the traffic.

Mrs. O'Connor and Mrs. Magee do not know the traffic rules, but we are certainly making sure everybody stays safe on the road.
While this may seem like mindless silly play, it is actually evidence of child-directed, highly organized cooperative play.  They came up with the idea and the adults had no role in it.  All of these children had to create and learn their own set of made up rules.  As a group they had to agree upon certain behaviors to maintain order (Everybody, drive this way!) and they had to negotiate their roles.  Doesn't this sound exactly like what goes on in a corporate office - new project, ground rules, maintain order and negotiate??  See!  It all starts in preschool.

Becoming Friends

Contrary to what many people believe, children do not make friends instantly.  Just like with adults, it takes time and trust.  Look what Mrs. Magee and I found in our small classroom library - two little Bunny girls curled up together under blankies.

It happens every October like clockwork - strangers become friends.