Storytelling: Who? What? Where?

This week we have been focusing on the parts of a story. This includes both storytelling and also investigating the books that we are reading.

We have been focusing on the Who? What? and Where? of the story. 

When we create the story, we start with "where?" and create  a scene. This can be as basic as setting out a piece of fabric to stand on. 

Then we move to who. Who is going to be there? We choose fabric or costumes to show our characters. 

And then finally, what are they doing there and what props do we need? 

One of the stories we worked on was our own version of "The Big Turnip."

Each child got to choose their character and the costume they needed to represent that character. We also practiced taking turns being in the audience and clapping at the end of the show.

Group One

A bear planting the seeds in the garden.

Bear's friend Chicken watering
the seeds.

The sun shining on the seeds.

Bear pulling on the vine of the giant berry, but it was TOO BIG!

Bear, Chicken and another Bear trying to pick the berry.

Two chickens, two bears, and a blue monster all working together.  And the sun up in the sky.
"And the pulled, and they pulled, and they pulled..."

Group Two

Blue Monster planting seeds in his garden.

The sun shining on the seeds. 

Blue monster, a bear, a duck and a red monster trying to pick the watermelon.

Along came a tiny green chicken. They pulled. And they pulled. And they pulled.
Until FINALLY! Pop!

The children continued the storytelling after I stepped away. A couple of the children took turns being the narrator/director of the play. I can't wait to see if the same story line appears again during free play. This has been just as much of a learning process for me as it is for them and I look forward to taking it further with them.

Gearing up for Winter : Practice through Play

This morning I went into the basement to gather the extra winter clothes to sort through. I decided that during free play I would dump them out in the dress up area while I sorted and see if it caught any interest. 

This is one of my favorite early winter activities. Usually it is more of a planned activity, but I think they were more interested today because I didn't present it as one of the choices. 

I just plopped myself down and tried to look busy. Kids are always interested when grown ups look busy. 

Children were instantly asking... Can we try these on? 

There were lots of colors, types and sizes to choose from. 

It was interesting to see some of the bigger kids trying to squeeze into smaller snow pants, just because they liked the color. 

 Very few of them asked for help, because after all this was dress up. 

Those that did ask for help quickly realized that I wasn't going to help them.

Only one child got confused and actually thought we were getting ready to go outside.  They weren't too disappointed when I explained that we were just pretending for now.  A couple children decided they were getting ready for a winter party and asked to wear their gear into the block area for more space. 

This is such an easy way to get kids to practice gearing up for the winter weather. 

I also realized that I might have a bit of a hoarding problem when it comes to winter gear donations. :)

International Fairy Tea Party 2014

This is the second year that we have participated in this growing event created by Fafu and Interaction Imagination. You can see our photos from last year here. 

Of course I always have a lot of big plans on pinterest, but it is a busy time of year and I need to remember to start preparing ahead of time!!  When the day arrived I decided to keep it simple and stick with an Autumn colors theme. We talked a lot about what colors we find in autumn. In the morning we made crowns covered with Fall-colored scribbles and paper scraps and fake leaves. Outside they walked around with their tape covered sticks to add collections from nature. 

Then we prepared the feast. Leaf shaped peanut butter toast, with red and green fairy sprinkles. We picked apples and grapes from our playground. I added a tiny bit of juice to the water to make pink "fairy juice."  

While they ate their picnic, I read them "Wild Child," by Lynn Plourde.

They made "soup" with the leftover grapes and apples and offered it to the woodland creatures.

If you have a blog post about your International Fairy Tea Party Celebration, please add a link into the comments. :) 

This post will be added to the Outdoor Play Party.

Check out some of the other outdoor fun going on around the world!

Dramatic Play: "Secret Laboratory"

Yesterday I was speaking with a colleague about how the preschoolers have seemed less than interested in the dress up area lately. Most of them have been with me for a couple years and needed something new. I needed something we had never done before that would appeal to all the mixed ages and the boys and girls. 

The suggestion was a "science lab." 

Best. Idea. Ever.

They instantly renamed it 

"The Secret Laboratory."

There was so much imaginative play and dialogue and all it took was adding...

Loose Parts and Different Size Containers

Arm Cuffs and Gloves

"If you put these on your arms than you won't get burned by the poison."

Magnifying Glasses

Scales

Sniffing Potions

"Don't eat it if it's poisonous."

"If you spit it out, than you're a witch."

Mexico!!

For the month of March we are focusing on Mexico and the Spanish language. 

During last week's drama day the theme agreed upon was travel and airplanes. The purpose of drama day is for the group to make a plan together. The teacher is not usually involved once the plan has been made. The preschoolers usually stay engaged with their game/scenario for about 45-60 minutes. 

The pilot hard at work.
(By the way, I was told this airplane is so big that it has a kitchen)

Drawing a map of the route.

Packing bags.

Did you know there are treasure collecting cowboys in Mexico?

Eating lunch during the flight.

Studying the map.

We also received three postcards from a new friend named José last week. He told us that he was traveling to our preschool from Mexico to teach us some Spanish. 

He gave us a few hints about himself. He said that he was shy and sometimes curls up into a ball....  

In his postcards he taught us to say "Hola, adios and amigos," which means hello, goodbye and friends.

Our postcards

When he arrived on Friday, some of us were very surprised to find out that José was actually an armadillo!

We all introduced ourselves with some Spanish. José is very shy and will only whisper in the teachers ears. He taught us to say "Me llamo (insert name)," which is another way to introduce yourself in Spanish. 

We also learned to ask "How are you?" or "Como estas?"

José told the children he was very tired from his long journey and one child suggested that he needed a bed.

José sleeping off his jet lag.

Over the next few weeks we will be exploring Mexican culture. We will be learning Spanish words for food, colors, clothes and general conversion words. Towards the end of the month we will "travel" to Mexico to return José to his home.