Globe

During our time of learning about Creation, we added to our class globe bit by bit.  We finished it by adding pictures of us.  It looks like we live all over the world!

This was the first time we had ever made our own globe with the class.  We'll definitely do it again.  It was fun and worthwhile.

Early Writing

During the season of Advent, the Bunnies became very familiar with the key people in the nativity story.  Just to see what would happen, we provided some write-on/wipe-off mats with the names of the key figures.  (These mats could also be used as playdough mats to help children form the letters in a more tactile way.)  To our delight, the Bunnies really liked this activity!

Some children tried to write the letters, and we had one who completely colored each letter.  We even had a few children who normally steer clear of writing activities give it a try.  To us, it was a big win and we will plan to have more of these around Valentine's Day.

Light Table

We borrowed a great activity from another class and the Bunnies really loved it!  We brought in a light table and used markers to draw very simple Christmas related shapes on the table.  The Bunnies put white paper on top and were able to trace the shapes.

This Bunny traced two stars and was ready to try the stocking next.

This Bunny traced a tree and colored it with a variety of markers.

Tracing is a great way to develop eye hand coordination and also give children a little confidence boost.  So often they say, "I don't know how to draw a ___________." and they are right.  They are not yet developmentally capable of drawing something that looks like what they have pictured in their mind.  Tracing gives a little bit of structure and then their creativity can take over.

Paper Chain Patterning

Mrs. Quinn showed a few girls how to make a paper chain, and WOW did she start something great!

Just paper strips and tape are all that's needed to get going on an unplanned, completely spontaneous lesson on patterning.  These girls started with a three color pattern.  Each of them added to each end of the chain, and we learned that it was hard to keep the pattern going in both directions.  The next day, we improved the model by simplifying to two colors.  It was MUCH easier to work from both ends and maintain the integrity of the pattern. 

The girls worked for a very long time.  At circle time, as a group we counted the links in their chain and there were 50!!  We started to get color requests for links, so we will definitely make this activity available in the new year when school resumes.

Families

We wrap up our discussions of the aspects of Creation by learning about families.  It's a gentle way to ease into the season of Advent and stay focused on faith.  We use the time in December to talk about our families and Jesus' family.  We read many, many books about the nativity and also some books that depicted modern day families gathering at Christmastime. 

A simple way to reinforce the concept of families is to make some basic comparisons.  The Bunnies did that by using people shapes to represent the members of their families.  The next day, they followed the same steps to represent Jesus' family. 

We counted the people in each family to make a simple comparison about size.  Each child took their picture home, and hopefully continued the discussions about their family and the Holy Family.