Mural for the Office

Our children have been commissioned to create a mural for the site director's office at the entrance for our school!  We feel honored to have been asked to create the task and the children are very excited as well.  At first we were unsure of what to create, but eventually were drawn to the idea of an ocean.  We wanted to incorporate different mediums into our piece so we began by first using tissue paper to collage.  The younger toddlers have been working on collage pieces in their classroom, so we thought they could bring some ideas to our children during afternoons where our classrooms combine.  The children REALLY enjoy glue!  We worked with the children to help them better understand the concept of collage, glue then stick down the paper and repeat.  This is a skill we are still working on.  After a few sessions of collaging, we decided to bring in paint.  The children helped pick the colors.  We used light blues, teals and purples to create the water.  During our first painting session the children used sponges.  We also used our hands and feathers during later sessions to add different effects.  The background for the mural is completed, but we are still working on adding more.  In the next few weeks we will be creating plants and coral to add more three dimensional effects to the piece.  We are also hoping to add some fish and other sea creatures to the mural.  Check out our work in progress as you drop off or pick up!

Reggie Rainbow Update

As many of you know we have been participating in the Reggie Rainbow program.  The children have been eager to try many of the new fruits and vegetables we have shared with them during the six weeks.  Each week we record the reactions of the children on a chart hanging on our door.  We have been doing the tastings Thursday afternoons, but we have also been cooking with the children during other sessions so majority of the children experience the different foods.  We have found the children really enjoy cooking in the classroom.  They have been able to use many different utensils and have been learning about new ingredients.  This experience has been great for the children, especially those who like to explore with all of their senses.  The children were able to taste many of their creations, as well as experience new smells and textures while creating the dishes.  We are hoping to continue cooking with the children.  If you have any suggestions for interesting ingredients or new dishes we should try, or if you want to come in and cook with the children we would love to hear from you!

Here are all of the different fruits and vegetables we have tried so far (as well as some of the recipes):
Red pears
Beets (beet chips)
Apricots (honey apricot frozen yogurt)
Sweet Potatoes (sweet potato fries)
Star Fruit
Yellow Peppers
Spaghetti Squash (tried it with marinara sauce)
Lemons (squeezed and tasted lemons)
Zucchini (zucchini chips)
Avocado (avocado and banana smoothie)
Figs
Cauliflower (cauliflower pizza crust with mushrooms on the pizza)
Garlic (garlic sauce)
Blackberries
Eggplant (eggplant Parmesan)
Plums (banana plum smoothie)
Mangos
Papaya
Prickly Pear/cactus fruit
Spinach (spinach and artichoke dip)

Creating a Terrarium

We had an empty fish tank in the classroom and decided to put it to good use.  Since we have plenty of fish already we thought we would use it to create a terrarium.  We love having new plants of various types for the children to look at and care for.  By creating a terrarium we felt the children would take more ownership over the plants.  Ms. Huff brought in four varieties of plants: a friendship plant, an aralia, a polka dot plant and a begonia.  The children were eager to help add the different layers.  We discussed what the plants needed to grow and explained the different layers would help the plants stay watered and healthy.  The children were so excited to create a habitat for the plants, so we are looking for more ways to introduce plants to the classroom.  We are definitely looking forward to spring and more opportunities in the garden.  For now we have been looking at some cuttings of plants and watching the growth of roots.  exploring the seeds from different fruits during reggie rainbow and watching the changes taking place to the plants on our playground.  We hope the children are just as eager to be working in the garden as we are!

Building

This semester the children have been working on many different building projects.  It has been our hope to introduce new materials and to encourage the children to think about their structures in different ways.  The children have been stuck on using mostly the magnatiles (I mean I can't blame them they are pretty neat) so we wanted to help break them out of that rut.  We have been working with large and small blocks, blocks of different shapes (including cylindrical PVC pipes) and recycled materials.  Building provides the children with opportunities to work alone, invite their peers into play or begin work on a structure together.  The children have been looking at images of different structures as well for inspiration.  It is neat for us to see some of the children come out of their shells and develop elaborate creations.  Building with different types of materials has also caused the children to be aware of ideas like balance and sturdiness.  The children are exploring balance in various ways using their bodies (see our other blog post for more about that), so thinking about balancing the structure relies on some of the same ideas.  We will continue to introduce different building materials; we just used small brick blocks today (hopefully some pictures to come soon). Check out some of the structures we have been creating below.