Japanese Toys
To further enrich the children in Japanese culture, we introduced some Japanese toys into our Nursery classroom this week. From spinning tops (koma), kaleidoscopes (mangekyou) and darumas and ninjas that flip down ladders, many friends were excited to explore the way they worked and enjoyed playing with the different toys!
Japanese Kitchen
We also added more items to our Japanese kitchen this week. We closed our downstairs kitchen and added a stove, sink, some more dishes and a tatami mat to make the Japanese kitchen more "real." The teachers reminded the children that in traditional Japanese houses, people took off their shoes in the doorway before entering, and this is what we did before we went upstairs to our kitchen. We were so proud of the children for taking off their shoes and placing them nicely in front of the stairs!
Winter Paintings
As it snowed last week and it is very cold everyday that we need to wear warm jackets, gloves, hats and scarfs, we talked about the season currently being winter. The children made winter paintings using winter colors (blue, purple and white paint) and different colored glitter. The teachers were so proud of the children for taking their time and making beautiful art pieces. Some friends painted their family and houses while others painted airplanes and rainbows. Please come and take a look at our beautiful paintings hanging in our classroom!
As a continuation from last week, more friends also painted their paper mache masks using the color of their choice. This has been a long, but worthwhile process. We will be putting the finishing touches on our masks very soon!
Book making
As the excitement of making books spilled over from last week, more friends continued their creations on Monday! They wrote books filling every page and proudly sharing them with the teachers. What is so lovely to see with this process is how all of the children who have made the books have done so voluntarily, showing their interests in bookmaking. We will continue to talk more about books including elements that we can add to them in the coming weeks.
A birthday celebration!
On Tuesday, we celebrated another exciting birthday in the class. Happy birthday Serena! Thank you for sharing your baby picture, a fun book and delicious treats with us!
Winter Sensory Tray
As the children have been exploring winter through their paintings, they experienced the colors from their paintings in a tray on the light table. Items ranging in colors from pinks, white, silver, purple, and blue sat on a glowing table top as the children explored the way light goes through things. Many were interested in the letters while others were drawn to the jewels.
This week a big part of our class discussion was Japan and what we know about it. Many children understand that they live in Japan now and were interested in two books that the teachers read to them called "Yoko" and "Yoko's Paper Cranes" by Rosemary Wells. In the books, many aspects of both Japan and the US are mentioned and the children enjoyed pointing them out, especially things they recognized in Japan. After reading the books, they began to name things that they know are in or come from Japan such as Tokyo Tower, kimono, ramen, sushi, TAC, and Mount Fuji. We looked at a map of Roppongi Hills that we have displayed in our classroom and tried to identify the areas that we know. Friends took turns trying to find our school on the map. We will continue our discussions about Japan and see what really seems to sustain their interests. We have started a Japanese culture wall to keep track of all the fun we are having with this unit!
Origami with a special visitor
As the children became interested in making paper creations because of the "Yoko" book we read, they asked if they could do some origami at school. Fortunately, Teacher Julie's Mother-in-law is visiting Japan this month so she kindly came in the next day to show the children and teachers how to make some special paper art. The children were excited to learn that our friend, "Juju" is the grandmother to Baby Logan (teacher Julie's baby) and were even more excited to have her help in doing origami. They worked very hard to follow her directions and carefully folded the paper after each step. The paper cranes they made were a bit tricky, but they were patient and were excited that their cranes had moving wings. Some friends also made hearts, tulips, dogs, cats, and boats! The fun continued through the rest of the week and the children have continued to make more origami.
Cooking Fun: Onigiri
One day this week during lunch as the children noticed who had rice in their lunch boxes, Zoe asked, "How do you cook rice?" It sparked a discussion about who has made rice and who had not. After talking about it, the children decided they wanted to make some of their own. So the teachers thought a simple, fun cooking activity for the children might be making rice balls (onigirI). Many of the children participated in the process: measuring, washing, and waiting :)
When the children got to their tables, they chose how much rice they wanted to eat and carefully rolled it in their hands with plastic wrap to make sure it did not stick. Some of them chose to put nori (dried seaweed) around their rice balls, while other friends chose to eat the rice plain. We were very proud of the children as every child was happy to independently prepare their snack and made sure to leave enough for everyone. They also all ate a rice ball--some even had seconds :)
Thank you for continuing to support your child in our classroom and for helping them have another successful week. Stay warm this weekend!
-Julie and Natalie
-Julie and Natalie