Map Making

Yesterday, children were so excited about hunting for treasure and made maps. Today we prompted their thinking about maps by reading a book, My Map Book.

Children studied the page and we discussed what we noticed about the map of the bedroom. 
"Labels"

"I see a bed"

"I see slippers and a toy"

"Why are there two beds?"

This line of questioning aided in their understanding of what to include on a map. We took this and had children look outside on the lower playscape. They were noticing all the different parts that they wanted to put on their maps of the area. 

M - "My whole family keeps dying in the lava. It's on the sand pit part."

J - "I made a map of the whole center" 

L - "This is the sand and this is the cave."

S - "Different colors all over my map"

C - "I made a map to my house"

E - "You start here and move down then you choose where to go next?"

M - "I'm finding my daddy. That is why I put a ?"

Children continue to seek ways to define and build community. Being able to understand what makes places special is important. This allows for them to define their world and think critically about things that surround them. 

Treasure Hunts

 Happy Tuesday! Our day began with a Birch Room mystery, one that had all of our friends puzzled! One friend came in but couldn't find his sign in picture, so lots of friends decided to help him look for it! Friends began by going around the room asking other friends "Have you seen K's picture?" And when no one had seen it, they tried another tactic. 

B: "O, you go that way! T, you go that way! A you go that way! And I'll look over here!"

B: "I found the picture! It was between two shelves! I don't know how it got there!"

So after they solved that mystery, friends decided to make treasure maps.

M: "Look, here is my map!"

Friends who didn't want to make maps were busy painting and creating with their friends at the pergola. Our question was "What can you create with a friend?" And Birch Room painted some very beautiful pictures together!

Games and Frog Homes

We asked children a question we've asked before, "What games can you play here?" Children explored the space around the forest and created many games. 

M, A, R - Created an art studio game.

M - I am drawing a puppy

A - Yeah and I'm drawing a dog. This is the paint (points to mud)

M - And the sticks are the brushes!

                                                    Many children were playing freeze tag

 

"Hide again! I can see you"

"I'm counting! 1, 2, 3..."

"Got you! You have to freeze"

M - "Now we are speed rangers with special watches that help us go fast!"

R - "But we are looking for a house for us to be at."

K - "Let's look over here!"

K - "I found a cave! I don't think I'll play this game anymore"

Miss Brooke - "Can you share why not?"

K - "Well bears live in caves and I do not want one to come out. Bye!!!"

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We relocated from the side of the forest to the top. This time we asked children a different question, "What can you build at the top?" Some children were continuing with their game but some were ready for something new. Luckily, they found some inspiration!"

C - "There is a frog!"

L - "It is hopping!!!"

Another student built it a nest and children brought this idea back to school. Children were creating frog homes when we arrived back at school and looked at pictures of where the frog was sitting. 

Collaboration and Oobleck

Happy Thursday! We got to play outside for a little bit this morning before the rain came, and we're so glad we did! The rest of the day was spent inside where we started on a collaborative art project and made oobleck. 

We read the book, Hey, Wall, by Susan Verde which is based on a true story about a community who made a wall in their neighborhood beautiful. Each friend had their own circle which overlapped with other friend's circles that they painted using mums and wood pieces. It's still a work in progress but is turning out to be beautiful and we can't wait to see the finished product!

We also took a few friends to the kitchen to make oobleck. Oobleck is made with two parts cornstarch and one part water. We also added in some coloring to try and make orange :) We brought it back to the room and had fun with some bugs in the oobleck, which is sticky but also liquidy. It's a great sensory experience!

Some friends also got to go to the gym since it was raining and they had fun exploring the climbing wall, doll house, and running and jumping on to the big bean bag!