What Do You Want To Be When You Get Bigger?
As the children have been really interested in dressing up as chefs, fire fighters, construction workers and mommies and daddies, they have been talking about what they want to be when they get bigger or "What do you want to be when you are as big as mommy and daddy?" The children had many different answers including a chef, someone who drives planes (a pilot), a fire fighter, someone who plays the piano (a pianist) and a mommy. The children drew their answers on paper and some shared their drawings during Circle time.
Building a DRAGON Together!
Recently, the children have enjoyed reading the book "Dragons Loves Tacos" by Adam Rubin. They have been talking about wanting to have a taco party at school like in the story. When asked, "Who should we invite?" Mya answered "Dragons!" and, after deciding we don't have dragons living with us the children concluded...we should make a dragon together!
We decided to make a dragon using a big cardboard box and as a class decided on what some of the body parts should look like. We voted on circle (and not triangle) eyes and an upward grin as we wanted our dragon to be a happy dragon. Some children were adamant about the dragon having pointy and sharp claws, so they searched the room for the perfect materials and decided that some kitchen utensils were the perfect solution! They were also determined to check if our (pretend) tacos would fit in his mouth- and were reassured once they saw that two fit!
We decided to make a dragon using a big cardboard box and as a class decided on what some of the body parts should look like. We voted on circle (and not triangle) eyes and an upward grin as we wanted our dragon to be a happy dragon. Some children were adamant about the dragon having pointy and sharp claws, so they searched the room for the perfect materials and decided that some kitchen utensils were the perfect solution! They were also determined to check if our (pretend) tacos would fit in his mouth- and were reassured once they saw that two fit!
The next day, we talked more about our dragon. Some friends decided that we should make wings and SHARP, pointy claws. We walked around our classroom looking for some pointy objects and finally found some cooking utensils (plastic knives and pasta spoons) for the claws. We will continue to make more of the dragon next week. It also appears as there is so much interest in colors and different types of dragons (wings, no wings, small hands, no feet, etc.) that the children may be able to create unique dragons of their own!
Our Senses!
This week, we also explored the five senses through different sensory activities. Some activities focused mainly on one of the senses while other activities included a few of the senses.
Smell
As the teachers had an extra bar of lavender soap, we cut it into small pieces and left it on trays to see what the children would do with it and what their guess of what it was would be. Some children started touching and smelling it, saying it smelled good while others wanted to pour water onto the soap. Mia was the first one to pour the water, which started a trend among her peers. Once the water was mixed with the soap, many children guessed it was soap because their hands were "bubbly" and "clean."
Sight
As it has been getting cooler with the season changing to autumn, so have the colors of the leaves! Mya brought in beautiful, autumn leaves which she collected on the way to school one morning. She stuck the different colored leaves on to contact paper and other friends came to feel and admire the beautiful leaves. There were still empty spaces on the contact paper so the children decided to stick different materials with the same colors as Mya's leaves-red, brown, yellow, green and orange- such as popsicle sticks and colored paper, to complete the autumn color masterpiece. Please come and take a look at the art piece hanging in our classroom! Some friends even decorated a heading with autumn colors as well.
Sound
Once the children discovered that there was bubble wrap in the classroom (it was inside the cardboard box used to make the dragon), many friends asked if they could pop it. The next day, the children got their own piece of bubble wrap and tried to make theirs "POP!" The girls enjoyed doing this activity but it was a huge hit among all the boys!! Some friends enjoyed the feel of the bubble wrap, while others liked the loud sound it made.
Touch
This week, the children enjoyed playing with the sand on the balcony. The teachers opened a fresh box of powdery sand in the sandbox and the children used some new toys to explore the sand, noticing the smoother, softer texture of the new sand. They also enjoyed playing in the big sandbox out on the playground.
Taste
In the book, Dragons Love Tacos, there is a big focus on spicy salsa. As we have been discussing tacos, taco parties and dragons the last couple of weeks, Teacher Julie brought in some salsa for lunch. Most of the children wanted to look at the salsa but no one dared to taste it because they thought it might be spicy and smoke might come out of their ears and mouths (like the dragon in the story). Finally, one brave friend was bold enough to try it: Chase!!!! He said it wasn't spicy and many friends looked relieved that Chase did not have fire coming out of his ears and mouth.
Becoming More Independent With Self Care Jobs
From this week, the children have started putting out their own rest mats during quiet time (until last week the teachers had the rest mats ready on the carpet beforehand). Since they have been doing a wonderful job putting away their rest mats, the teachers thought the children were ready for a new challenge and they were excited to try it! We are proud that the children can now put out and put away their rest mats independently!
As mentioned in last week's blog, the children have been thoroughly enjoying role play dressing up in different costumes. Teacher Julie and Teacher Natalie noticed that the clothes rack they had in the classroom was hard for the children to clean up the costumes so the teachers brought in one that the children could use more easily. They were SO excited to see the colorful children hangers on the rack and many said that they have the same hangers at home. They eagerly waited until it was their turn to practice putting the costumes on hangers and putting them on the clothes rack and they did a superb job! We will continue to practice this in the upcoming weeks.
School Picture Day!
This week, the teachers talked about having individual and group photos taken for a special book called the school yearbook. We showed the children last year's yearbook and they were so excited to see Teacher Julie and Teacher Natalie but were also confused that they were not there. We explained that their photo will be in this year's yearbook, which they will receive later on in the year. The children said we should make "happy faces" while getting our photo taken. They also noted that having their picture taken does not hurt and is not scary at all. That morning, we practiced having our photos taken in the classroom before the real thing and put on our biggest smiles. Please take a look at our slideshow below!
After practicing in the classroom, it was time to go to the Community Room to take our actual photos. Everyone took turns and watched their friends smile at Mr. Banana Head (the photographer) and then took a group photo at the end. Everyone did a great job smiling- well done Nursery friends!
Family Fall Festival
Thank you again for attending to the Family Fall Festival today! It was great fun and it was lovely to see the children walk into the classroom with their souvenirs from the day. We hope you enjoyed the Nursery Autumn Yoghurt Bar and the other activities in the different classrooms.
Have a lovely weekend and see you all on Monday!
-Julie and Natalie
-Julie and Natalie