Spin Art

Do you have an old record player hanging around collecting dust?

Just put a cheap paper plate on the turn table, set the arm aside and turn the record player on.  Give your child some markers to hold on the plate while it spins.
That's how we do spin art SLC style!!

Pet Vet

Pet Vet is an activity that never grows old.  The Bunnies love it!

 We transformed our kitchen area into a vet's office.  We had an exam table and all the necessary examination tools such as thermometers, blood pressure cuffs, tweezers, bandages, shots, and grooming supplies.  We had shelves of dog and cat food, treats, and feeding bowls.  We even had child size medical clothing.

In addition to our own stuffed animal puppy and bunny rabbit (of course!) we encouraged the children to bring a lovey from home.  The children had a blast taking care of their animals and role playing as the doctor and as the "parent" of the animals.

We set up a rest and recovery area for our animals.  The animals had an opportunity to get some rest while their "parents" had other plans such as eating a snack, painting and playing outside.
It was so exciting to hear the the children's conversations with each other about their animals.

YeeHaw!

In the spring we love to explore and celebrate our western heritage.  Most city kids don't have experience with western life even though just an hour outside of our city are miles and miles of ranch and farm land.  In our class, we had a saddle, some farm puzzles, rope art and cowboy and cowgirl clothes.  Year after year one of the Bunnies' favorite activities is udder painting.  Mrs. Magee is the pro.  She filled a couple of rubber gloves with paint, and the kids got to pull on the fingers to squirt the paint out!

Story Time

Every few years or so, we have a Bunny Rabbit who can read fluently.  We do not ever pressure children to read even when we know they can.  We allow that child (and every child!) the opportunity to read in very natural situations.  Inevitably late in the year other children figure it out and suddenly we have impromptu story time.  There is something very captivating about being read to by another child.

Sorting by Attributes

Here is a March lesson that should have been an October lesson.  Sometimes it's just hard to fit in everything we need to do!
Our block cabinets were disaster zones.  At the end of each day, the kids just chucked the blocks on the shelves and closed the cabinet.  They were totally unorganized in every way, and sometimes we even had little avalanches.  
We had a whole day of block sorting.  We put three orange tape squares on the rug and one blue tape square.  Each orange square was for a specific size block and the blue square was for any blocks that didn't match the ones in the other squares.  It was a classic what-doesn't-belong set up. 
The Bunnies sorted and sorted and sorted.  They did a fantastic job!

Did you know each block has a certain name?  At the top left is the basic size called "units".  The top right shows "half units" and the bottom left shows "doubles".  On the bottom right are all the misfits that need to be matched with blocks in other cabinets.
Admire their hard work!

Can you believe three year olds did that!!
The real challenge: keeping it that way.

Girls and Blocks

Most of the photos of block structures featured on this blog have been built by boys.  Girls are just as capable of building amazing structures as boys!  These girls worked as a team to build this house and they knew specifically what each room was and who lived there.  Way to go, girls!

Sizes

There are many, many ways to teach the concept of size.  Being able to accurately compare and order items by size is a typical preschool skill.  This is a skill that most children learn easily by simply playing.  Many of them naturally line up toys by size even before they know the words "small", "medium", and "large".  At SLC we provide opportunities that reinforce the skill in FUN ways.  One day we painted with small, medium and large balloons.  The children dipped them in paint and pressed them onto paper.  Math through art is a powerful learning experience.

Feeling the Love

We celebrated Valentine's Day in several ways.  The Bunnies made lots of interesting things with hearts.  The most popular item to make was heart garland.  They figured out how to use tape to connect hearts together in long strings.  There were some hearts in the window with the letters L O V E and some of the children copied the letters on to their garlands.  Yay!

  The Bunnies exchanged Valentine cards with each other.  This was so fun!  They just couldn't wait to see what was inside their own Valentine bag.  Don't you remember the anticipation from your days at school?  I do!

The children also made a HUGE heart mural.  It took several days and this photo shows one of the middle stages.  They had opportunities to contribute to the mural with paint and rollers, with tissue paper, with glitter, and with foam shapes.

Busy, Busy

Two seconds before Mrs. O'Connor snapped this photo each child was busy.  Head-down, focused-on-the-task, BUSY!
On the red tray is an alphabet pop-up toy.  On the blue tray is a fine motor activity in which you use small tongs to pick up little dog bones and puppy paws and place them in a tiny tray.  On the yellow tray is another fine motor game in which you use tongs to feed bananas to a monkey.  On the green tray are Oreo shape puzzles in which you must match two shapes and fit the top and bottom together to make a cookie.

In our class, we refer to these as "puzzles and games".  They don't fit the narrow definition of a puzzle (such as a jigsaw puzzle), but they fit the broader definition as a task that is puzzling and needs solving.  These types of activities rotate each week so there is plenty of opportunity to try new and challenging tasks. 

Something Different

This week in Bunny Rabbit class, there were some neat Fisher Price toys.  They are little buildings, people and furniture for various facets of city life.  They are called Sweet Streets, but I don't think F-P makes them any more.  Anyway, the scene on our rug this week looked much different than usual.  GIRLS!! 
What a welcome change!

Sign Up!

Parents, we have two exciting things for you! 

First, you may sign up for a week to take home Benjamin Bunny.  Our stuffed bunny will come to your house for a week and experience life in your family.  Parents should snap a couple of photos and include them in Benjamin's journal with a brief description of what occurred.  Simple and fun!  This children LOVE reading about Benjamin's adventures.

Second, sign up for a Parent/Teacher conference.  The dates are Friday, February 25 and Monday, February 28.  Conferences are brief (20 minutes) and are an opportunity to visit about your child.  Please make plans to attend without your child.

Look for a pink sign up sheet for Benjamin Bunny and a green sign up sheet for conferences!

Teamwork

This is the time of year when we really begin to see children collaborating together.  These two Bunnies worked as a team to solve this darling puzzle of Little Bear characters.  They were so proud of themselves when it was all done!

Light and Joy

I adore this photo.  Just look at the joy on her face as she plays at the light table.  Can't you just imagine how good those little stars feel falling through her fingers!

A Complete, Correct Example

When children are introduced to a new toy or puzzle, they don't necessarily know how to play with it.  For open ended toys with infinite possibilities, free exploration is the best way for a child to learn what to do.  That means, just dump it out on the table and have fun. 

For toys that have a specific purpose or order, it is important to provide a complete, correct example.  A child may not follow your example, but at least he or she will have an idea of the reason for the toy and an idea of what the end product can be as a reference point.  In the photo above, we provided a complete, correct example.  The tower on the left is stacked in size order and the other towers should be stacked in a similar way.  Guess what?  Not ONE child followed the example to solve the puzzle of stacking. 

And that is perfectly fine. 

Creativity in the Class

This little Bunny is new to our class and she's still experimenting with all the materials we have to offer.  We have so much to do in our class that the possibilities are endless.

These Bunnies have had lots of experiences with the materials in our class and they still have creative uses for familiar items.  The possibilities are endless for them, too.

Each day the children can count on some new materials mixed in with some familiar materials.  Having both allows them to really shine!

Carpentry Continued

The Bunnies continued their carpentry experiences by using hand drills.  We've never used these particular tools in Bunny Rabbit class before so we weren't sure what to expect.  My goodness, the children thought the drills were so neat.  We're definitely going to use them again!

Precarious

Check out this way cool structure.  If you look closely you will see just how precariously placed the blocks are on the top.  Only two or three small cylinders stacked on two or three large cylinders are supporting the weight of the entire top level.  All the other blocks on the rug are part of the overall design but offer no structural support. Materials and opportunity allowed these guys to learn about weight and balance through play.
Awesome!

Silly Sally Day

Every year in January when we have just one day to meet as a class, we have Silly Sally Day.  Get yourself a copy of Silly Sally.  Kids love it!
To celebrate Silly Sally Day we turned things upside down - literally - and we did a few unexpected wacky things.  Art was under the table.  We had huge white butcher paper taped to the bottom of the table and a bucket of markers.  The children crawled under the table, laid on their backs and colored up in the air.  Mrs. O'Connor and Mrs. Magee also got under the table to color, but there is no photographic evidence.  We even had a few puzzles and games under the table.  Some children had fun with that idea right away.  One little Bunny girl kept moving the games to the top of the table when no one was looking.  heehee.  She had a hard time understanding that we put the games under the table purposely!  Any guesses who it might have been?  At the easel, the children used dot markers to decorate an upside down girl as Silly Sally.  At the sensory table we had fake snow.  Not glitter or plastic-y fake Christmas snow.  We call it "real fake snow".  It is powdery white like sugar until you add water.  Then poof!  It becomes snow - cool to the touch, delicate and smooth.  It's an unexpected delight for Southerners like us.

Guess what! Jesus Grew Up

Through the years we have learned that most children know Jesus was a tiny baby born in a stable.  They also know Jesus was a grownup who did wonderful things. 

Most of them are super surprised that Jesus was a little boy!

We have a fantastic book called If I Had Lived in Jesus' Time.  It shows drawings of modern life and ancient life.  It's perfect for comparing and contrasting they way we live today with the way Jesus lived.  The Bunnies were amazed that Jesus probably slept on a mat on the floor - no bed!!! 

In our class, we learn the things Jesus probably learned like carpentry and sewing.

Jesus learned carpentry from his father, Joseph.  For us, carpentry involves lots of glue.  The children each added small wooden bits to a large piece of wood.  They will continue to work on these from time to time and then we'll send them home.

Jesus probably learned a bit of sewing from his mother, Mary.  Can young children learn to sew?  Absolutely!  We use burlap, yarn, a big plastic needle and a large embroidery hoop.  The Bunnies love it!  We will have sewing out from time to time and by the end of the year we'll have a fancy mat.

Good-bye and Hello

We are beginning the second half of our school year with some good-byes and some hellos.
Henry and Jaina left our class and Yeremi and Rebecca joined us.  Parents, we will get new photo rosters to you soon!