Friday, February 27, 2015

Welcome to Our Preschool





We are fortunate to have such a big space for our small group of twelve children. We have divided the classroom into several areas to encourage different types of play. You can read more about the system we use in the classroom here "Making Choices: Where are you playing?"


I thought I would give a tour of the different play spaces in the classroom.




Imagination Station:

Imagination Station is a new area we created from combing our dress up and block area. It currently has  baby dolls, Fafu dress up clothes, wooden play food and table on one side and blocks, tubes, loose parts, small cars, people, and occasionally ride-on cars.  There are two different floor surfaces and it is common for the children to dress up on the "home side" and travel to work, camping or the ocean on the other side.










The Art Table: 
There are always open ended art materials available for the children to explore on their own. We paint, cut, glue, color, collage and use playdough.




Small World Play: 
This a cozy area where children have access to loose parts, natural materials and small dolls or animals to create worlds and use their imaginations. 






Quiet Reading Area: 
This is a space that is limited to one or two children. A quiet nook with books, blankets, pillows and a small place to "escape"  to



Octagon Table: 
A large table that is used for standing activities such as trains, lego, small building blocks or other manipulatives.



Sensory Table: 
I have recently heard another educator refer to it as the "touch table." I love that. The contents of this table usually shifts every week or two, depending on how long the children stay interested. Sometimes we put the cover on it and use the surface for other activities.





Gathering Rug: 
Is our place to have meetings and circle time. It is also a place where the children know they can go to get out some extra energy. There is always some sort of big muscle supplies (bean bags for throwing, weights for lifting, carpet squares for hopping on.)



Here is a blog post about it what one day looked like on the Gathering Rug: Balancing Act.






Hope you enjoyed the tour! Our classroom is forever evolving and moving to meet the needs of the children throughout the year and from group to group. 




No comments:

Post a Comment