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. :)

Don't Be a Crab Apple.

As a preschool teacher I feel it is very important to remember to ask myself

"Why not?"

It took me several years to feel confident in stretching my thinking and questioning the rules that sometimes seem necessary. 

One of my first mentors taught me to question the "down the slide" rule. Why? or Why not go up the down slide? In my opinion every situation is unique with different children, different teachers, different equipment and all of this needs to be taken into consideration when exploring rules. 

Part of being a teacher is learning. It is not uncommon that I make up a rule that I instantly regret. I start second guessing. It is important for us as teachers (and parents) to question ourselves. We need to talk with other teachers and also with the children to figure out WHY?

A Crab Apple.

We have three apple trees on our property. One grows big yummy apples that we use to make applesauce. There are two other trees that grow crab apples. 

There was a problem this year with picking the apples. I'm not sure whose problem it was. Mostly mine I guess. 

I was trying to help them understand that the apples wouldn't be able to grow big and juicy if we kept picking them. We needed to let them grow so that we could eat them later. 

I was conflicted between:

"This is their space, let them explore."

and

"These trees work hard to produce these apples and we need to respect nature and not be wasteful."

It is always feels like the old cartoons with the mini-characters on each shoulder. 

You know the ones.

After two weeks of constant reminders and questioning myself, I decided to have a meeting with them about the apples. Now that the apples had grown bigger I showed them how one tree had bigger apples and the other two had small apples. 

I told them that since we would never be able eat the little apples they could pick them to play with, but not to eat. After a little bit of groaning I let them all take a bite of the tiny sour apples and they agreed to the deal. Finally everybody was happy.

Why not.

Getting Our Feet Wet.

This morning a giant puddle had appeared on our playground that 

we hadn't seen since "Crocodile River."

Off came the shoes. Why not?

Many of the kids were wearing pants. I helped them roll them up, but it was obvious everybody was going to need to change when we got inside. 

The next thing I knew they were adding the apples to puddle. 

I couldn't help but smile and once again I was confident that this was their playground not mine. 

Here is another post that I just dug up about asking myself  

WHY NOT?

Check out the Outdoor Play Party at Mud Mud Marvellous Mud for more posts about outdoor fun. 

Snail Races

On Friday, while playing in the rain, the children discovered a bunch of snails (and slugs). They had all collected a few and were carrying them around.

For the sake of the snails, I suggested collecting them all in one place and watching them race.

Child: "But snails are slow."

Me: "But one of them surely has to be faster than the rest."

Everytime I watch the video I'm amazed at how much language, social interaction, investigation, and discovery took place. 

If all these kids tried to sit this close together during storytime there would be pushing and complaining, but not around this stump.

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."

Just Playing? Springtime Water

Where is the water going? 

This was not a structured or planned activity. This was simply the children following their curiosity and me following along.

"Look, its going under the ice!"

And then it is going DOWN the hill.

And into the Beaver Pond.

Here is another article about Channeling Water from Kitchen Counter Chronicles. Bring children outside and THEY WILL LEARN.

We may be "just playing", but....

What are the children doing here?

What do you see?

What learning is taking place?

What skills are being practiced/developed?

Please take a moment to reflect upon the photos. I would love for you to share your observations in a comment. I'd also like to invite you to "hop" on over to all of the other bloggers who are sharing photos of children learning through play this week:

Just Playing: Pompoms and Pails

Two sensory tables were set up very close to one another. One was filled with soft circles and pompoms. The other has tiny wooden flower pots. Four tin pails were also included in the area.

Do you see any learning taking place here?

Please share your thoughts in the comments below!

This post is part of the "Just Playing?" Blog Hop!

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