Noah's Ark

No chat about the creation of land and water would be complete without exposure to Noah and his big boat.  Look closely - do you see the best part?  I absolutely adore the pair of ostriches hanging off the side of the ark by their toes!

God Made Land and Water

In our continuing efforts to learn about the world God made for us, we've spent time talking about land and water.

The children represented land and water by watercoloring coffee filters with pipettes instead of paintbrushes.

They also tried a neat activity called "pour painting".  They each had a large rock and poured paint over it to resemble a globe - land and water.

They really loved it and we had high participation in this activity.  We'll look for more opportunities to provide pour painting!  It was fun to watch the paint move and slide over the rocks.  These were entirely too gloopy, gloppy wet to send home (you're welcome, parents!) so they will spend the week drying at school. 

We also took the opportunity to learn about the properties of water by experimenting with items that sink and float.

On Monday, the Bunnies had a bucket of items and a bucket of water for simple experimentation.  We spent time with the children exposing them to the concepts and vocabulary in a very casual conversational manner.

On Tuesday, we increased the complexity by changing the items slightly and by providing sorting mats and more independence.  See how these guys tested the objects and placed them onto the mat representing each property?  By allowing the children to begin with simple exposure to the concept and then progressing to a higher level of complexity we give them the opportunity to take charge of their own learning.  Sink/float is a fun activity to do at home with things beyond the typical bathtub toys.  Try it!

Little Fingers

One of the most important things we do is help the children develop motor skills.  Each week they have opportunities to work their little finger muscles in a variety of ways.

Stringing beads is not easy.  We find that Bunnies are typically successful at stringing large beads, but struggle with small ones.  By using pipe cleaners for stringing, they are better able to control the beads.  The stiffness of the pipe cleaner adds support in a way that floppy string can't.  Success!

Everybody loves hammering!  Giant styrofoam block + plastic hammer + golf tees = fine motor development disguised as endless fun!

Creation

This fall we will be learning about the world God created for us.  Obviously that is a topic of life-long study, so we begin in small ways.  Reading and talking to children about creation is important and we do that.  However, we find that the most profound way for children to learn about the wonder of creation is to let them be creators!

This little Bunny is learning about the creation of light from darkness by marble painting with white and silver paint on black paper.

Mrs. O'Connor and Mrs. Quinn have many more activities planned to help children learn about creation by being able to create with open-ended, interesting materials.

Learning Together

The beginning of the year is exciting and surprising, and also not-so surprising.  It is very typical this time of year to see the children play along strict gender boundaries.  Notice in the photos below that girls are playing in the housekeeping area without any boys nearby, and boys are playing with cars on the rug without any girls in sight.

I can't say with certainty why this happens, but it happens every year.  I can only theorize that it relates to the children's level of comfort with each other.  Here at the beginning while everyone is getting to know each other, they make connections by searching for commonalities and build from there.  Right now their main commonality is their gender.  As their repertoire of commonalities increases (such as by discovering similar interests), their play branches out, too.  I love that at SLC we provide an enormous variety of play materials to appeal to children for a variety of reasons.  It won't be long before the children are interacting together in more balanced play.

Duos

Normally we don't see the children playing together this early in the year.

Considering that they really don't know each other yet, this is unusual and exciting.

This is a sure sign we are off to a great start!

First Day Fun

The first day of Bunny Rabbits is always a mix of excitement and trepidation for the children.  They don't know us, they don't know each other, and they have no idea what to expect, BUT it always works just fine!

Please check here from time to time to see how these fabulous children learn through play!

These two guys found some games to play.

Remember Viewmaster?!  It's a timeless toy and children absolutely love it!

You'll see lots of playdough in our room.  It's fantastic for strengthening little hands, for encouraging conversations and most importantly, it's just fun!  See how this little Bunny snipped the playdough into little bits?  Excellent fine motor practice.  Feel free to try it at home, too!