We might be a bit biased, but we think we have the cutest firefighters, police officers, chefs, and construction workers ever here in our Nursery Class! As we have noticed the children's growing interests in occupations and roleplaying throughout the last few weeks, we introduced some new costumes and talked about their responsibilities. It was so interesting to see how the children played when wearing these costumes as well as watching how many of them took turns with these costumes. They practiced a lot of, "May I be next?" when wanting to wear a costume as well as, "Can you help me with this please?" if they needed assistance with them. As the children have begun to rescue each other, prepare food for one another, and tell friends when to STOP! and Go!, we will begin to look further into how these roles can help people.
On Tuesday during choice time, we showed the children the slideshow from Back to School Night so they could see one of the ways that we show their mommies and daddies how they enjoy school. They were so excited to see themselves on the monitor and happily shouted their friends' names when they appeared on the screen.
Face Puzzles
As the children have been getting to know each other more and have been learning each others' names, they were excited to find their photos of their faces that were divided into strips. We called them "face puzzles" and the children were busy putting their faces together. During circle time we pretended we were detectives and tried to solve mysteries of whose eyes or smile or hair belonged to who. It was pretty impressive how quickly the children could identify their friends based on one facial feature alone!
Soon more friends became engaged with this process and throughout the week they have been making their friends' face puzzles.
Fun with water!
Another exciting activity that was very popular among the children was the water table. We tried to take advantage of the warm sunny weather we had early this week and let the children enjoy pouring water from one container to another and were excited to add jewels and some seashells that Mya had collected over the weekend. They also connected plastic tubes to funnels to experiment with water and watch it flow from one tube to the next. Most of them were drenched when they had finished, but many of them said that was their favorite activity of the day!
During Circle Time later in the morning, the children were eager to discuss the fun they had at the water table. They were excited to "put together tubes", "pour the water" and "get wet". As the discussion went on, the children began to wonder why water can fit through a tube. One child suggested because it was, "slippery". When asked, "What else shall we put in the tubes to see if it goes through?" by the teachers, Mya suggested sand might work because "It's tiny dots". So we decided to try it the next morning. First the children tried kinetic sand. They could observe right away that it was very clumpy (because of the texture). When they tried to pour it down the tubes it got stuck. They were persistent, though, and broke it apart with their fingers so the sand could slide down the tubes.
In truth, Teacher Julie and Teacher Natalie learned so much with this activity as well. We hadn't realized that kinetic sand would not go through the tubes easily either. We were not only impressed with their determination to get the sand down the tube, but also their patience with the task. Mia said, "The kinetic sand didn't go down because it's sticky."
Next the children tried regular sand from the sand table, which was much easier to work with. Everyone had a chance to pour the sand into a funnel and agreed that this sand was not as sticky. After further discussions about what might go through the tubes and what would get stuck, the children decided they wanted to experiment with tape, play dough, glue, paint, and gold coins, and flowers. We love their curiosity and plan to pursue their inquiries!
Next the children tried regular sand from the sand table, which was much easier to work with. Everyone had a chance to pour the sand into a funnel and agreed that this sand was not as sticky. After further discussions about what might go through the tubes and what would get stuck, the children decided they wanted to experiment with tape, play dough, glue, paint, and gold coins, and flowers. We love their curiosity and plan to pursue their inquiries!
This week the children appreciated the flowers that were in our classroom from Back to School Night. They touched them, smelled, them and talked about the colors of flowers they liked. We used this opportunity for them to practice their observational drawing skills. Many of them focused on one flower while others preferred to focus on the leaves.
Finally, the children were excited to celebrate another friend's birthday! Mia was so lucky to have her mommy and grandmother celebrate with her at school. Her grandmother read her a delightful book that the children could feel and smell! Then it was time for delicious mini cupcakes that Mia helped make. Thank you for celebrating your special day with us!
Thank you so much for another successful week. It has been wonderful to see the children continue to develop friendships with one another, share ideas, and get creative and investigative in their activities. We look forward to more of this next week.
Have a fantastic weekend everyone!
-Julie and Natalie
Have a fantastic weekend everyone!
-Julie and Natalie