The Rainbow Wheel Connection

White Rabbit's Color Book and Little Blue and Little Yellow at circle time.  Followed by a great discussion about primary colors, rainbows and the color wheel. The preschoolers then had the chance to use q-tips and paint to make their own pointillism color wheel.

This is one of those activities that went much differently in my head! My expectations were too high and many adjustments were made during the process. It's always a learning process for us ALL at preschool. 

People always attribute "patience" to preschool teachers, but being flexible is just as important. The ability to adjust, rearrange and sometimes move on.

The words of the song The Gambler come to mind:

You've got to know when to hold 'em
Know when to fold 'em
Know when to walk away
Know when to run

-Kenny Rogers

The children enjoyed the process (despite their serious concentrated faces) and the results were beautiful.

Success.

Connecting our own dots...

We started our Circle Study this year with a simple activity that was inspired by Hands On: as we grow's Beginner Connect the Dots. When I saw that post, I immediately thought of our Circle, Spots and Polka Dots unit. What a fantastic idea for younger kids to connect the dots however they would like.  For our purposes, I added even more freedom. The children created their own dots and then connected them too. Their age ranges and artistic styles resulted in a lot of different types of art. Some of their artwork even ended up resembling that of Seurat's pointillism, but we'll save those details for another post. 

Warning!! Large Box

We have had this box for over a week. It seemed like a typical fort-sized horizontal box. Until this morning, when it suddenly flung upright in the middle of the classroom. It wasn't until shortly after that I noticed it said...

"Warning!! Large Box."

Better be on the safe side and bring this box outside...

Our curriculum coordinator for the morning.

Peer Guidance

Playground Treasure Hunt

Last week, as part of her Map Unit for her internship, Ashley created a treasure map for the children. Each day they were given a new hint, which told the kids what landmark needed to be added to the map.  

They had to figure out where to place the landmark on the map in relation to the school and previous landmarks.  The hints also specified how they would get from one landmark to another (22 paces, zig zag steps, etc). 

On Friday, they had their final hint and the map was completed. They followed Ashley along as she showed them the map at each landmark and reviewed what they had recorded over the week. 

The Hidden Treasure: A Picnic!

Thank you Ashley! 

The preschoolers really enjoyed this activity.

Springtime? Is that you?

Just over three years ago I was truly inspired by the amazing outdoor play experiences that take place over at Learning for Life. 

Their motto is:

 "Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, and snow is exhilarating; there is no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather." John Ruskin 1819-1900

The pictures on Kierna's blog always amazed me. Seeing all the children playing in the mud. And what are those suits that they are wearing? Surely that must just be something they have in Northern Ireland, not here in the USA. So glad that I learned otherwise and discovered our Oakiwear Rain Suits. This is our second spring with them and last week it was finally warm enough to shed the snowsuits.

They keep us dry on the rainiest days. The suits allow them to sit, jump and splash in puddles without having to spend the rest of the morning waiting for their turn to change out of wet clothes. (Not to mention it saves on laundry for parents)

 Kids that would be hesitant to get messy before feel that they have a whole new sense of freedom.

Always proud to be a part of the...