Loose parts

"Loose parts are materials that can be moved, carried, combined,

redesigned, lined up, and taken apart and put back together in multiple ways."

-Simon Nicholson, Theory of Loose Parts

This is Where Live!

The  children interact with the Webster Groves area map that they traced.  They use corks to show where they lived and other places in their neighborhood.

To help with remembering the places in the neighborhood, the children draw pictures of their homes, parks, restaurants, and stores.  They use their fingers to map out how they would get from place to place.

The Language of Clay

A few weeks back while we made a plan for birthday celebrations, 

one of the children said that we would need to create something to 

hold the birthday flowers. We manipulated the clay to create bowls for 

the flowers. 

Children created a hole and pinched around the clay to 

create their bowls. 

We talked about why we needed water to keep the clay from 

drying out. 

Other children used wire to create designs on their bowls. 

                         Bowls for the flowers

                     We will be painting and firing in the kiln this week. 

Fun Sensory Play

Oobleck - which is messy play.  The children loved pouring and squeezing  this slimey, gooey oobleck through their hands.

Constellation representations

The children are exploring maps, homes, and wonderings 

regarding space and Earth. Children have been interested in 

the books about stars and what it could mean when there is a 

group of stars. We represented our ideas of constellations using 

the light table. 

What happens when you connected the dots together?

"When my mom was a kid, she had a tricycle with handles and 

  wheels." 

              The beginning of a constellation

           "I drew an airplane without wings." -MR

Thoughts of Helping

There has been a lot of talk about the floods in Texas and the hurricane in Florida.  The children have been sharing that the families need help.  They shared several ways they wish they could help the families.  They talked about building homes for the people to live in.  When asked about what a home needs, the children drew pictures then created houses that they thought the families would like.

 house designed by Layla

 house designed by CI

The Forest

Yesterday, we took our first trip to the Bird Sanctuary also 

known as "The Forest." There is lots to discover inside and Birch 

children talked about different paths and which directions they were 

going. We have been interested in maps and how to get around- stay tuned

to see if there will be any connections. 

Exploring in the Mud Kitchen

The mud kitchen allows the children the opportunity to interact one with nature.  They use natural materials to create many tasty treats.    

At the end of all the play, its nice to sit down and share with friends.

Marble painting

GOLD Objectives during play.

From our daily observations we see many of GOLD objectives during the children's play. While playing with the magnet blocks the children create many unique things. 

"This is a steam boat car.  It's going to pick up blocks."  PL

"I made an x ray machine."  RJ

These children are showing how to balances needs and rights of self and others, think symbolically, and engages in sociodramatic play.

Wonderings about the map

The children have been wondering about the map in our 

classroom. As you saw on the blog last week, we walked to 

Cora's house which led to other questions, wonderings, and conversations 

about where we live and what we use a map for. 

"This is the way to my house." -JB

"I know that is a symbol. Symbols are different kind of shapes." -RJ 

"That is where the eclipse happened." -MP

"I go on Rockhill to get to Elaine Rosi." -PW

"Blackburn park is where I go to play Star Wars." 

"I wonder where it is going to take me." -MR

"She lives close to me." -CI

"I go from here, and then I take this path and I get down here." -MR

"That is easier for me to go there. I hope that I'm a walker." -MR 

Visit to our Care Space on the Playscape

We went to visit the garden on the playscape.  Many of the children started sharing about what they know about gardens and how to care for them.  They talked about watering the plants and that they need sun to grow.  This led to a deeper conversation about how we can keep the plants that are growing healthy and able to grow.  We talked about keeping the garden clean and keeping the weeds from growing over the garden. What a great way to start caring for our garden.

As we sat, we noticed a few things that were very interesting:

A tiny red tomato.

"This smells like pizza."

"This smells like my bathroom."  (mint leaves)

"Butterflies loves our plants."

Birthday tradition

Last week, we talked about ways we could celebrate birthdays in

Birch. After conversations with small groups, we decided to design flowers. 

We have used the language of wire and paper. You can see some below.

On their special day, children will get to choose a flower.

We will also be making cards to help them celebrate. 

PW said, "We need to keep them in something like a bowl." 

We will begin that work next week.