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."

Introduction to Mandalas

After being introduced, the children have been inspired by the work of an artist named Elspeth McLean. She has beautiful circles in all her intricate artwork. The minute I saw her work months ago, I knew she would be a featured artist this year in our study.  Much of her artwork includes mandalas, made up of tiny dots of paint, which you can see in the video below!

I decided to have the preschoolers try out a more hands on approach to Mandalas, before attempting them on paper.

  

After a friend and fellow teacher heard we were going to be adding mandalas to our study, she sent me this wonderful link from Nurture Store. Thank you!

Such lovely things can be created by children when given a simple shape and natural materials to explore and create with.

We also investigated how flowers can be natural mandalas. 

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