Reflection Writing

Sometimes activities happen by accident and it usually involves a child who just stumbles upon something that should have been completely obvious to a seasoned preschool teacher.....this was one of those activities.

One of our preschool pals came by one afternoon for a play date with Monkey and she ended up standing at my coffee table with one of my very loved (aka scratched beyond belief) acrylic mirrors and a dry erase marker.  Since I was sitting on the couch chatting with said preschool pal's totally amazing Mama, I was feeling too lazy to get up and retrieve a white board and suggested that she use the marker on the mirror.  Voila!  Reflection Writing was born!

For the next few days, I set out the mirrors and markers together to see what would happen.  A few of the kiddos tried it out, but Monkey really jumped in head-first.

I've seen some great advancements in his drawing and writing lately, and he's been very into suns, faces, people and his name, so the mirror just provided a new canvas for his current interests.

Sun + face = awesome!!

And erasing is just as much fun!!


What creative uses have you found for mirrors or dry erase markers??

What We're Up to in June

Summer Camp is here which means we clear the classroom of an overabundance of activities and keep things simple with one or two themes for the whole month.  This month, one of our themes is Pirate Adventures!!  This is my first year doing a pirate theme and I'm super-excited.

I started off with a sensory bin:

Starting with a cloud dough base (8c. flour to 1c. oil), I added necklaces and coins (Dollar Tree) as well as some other things I had around the house: shells, cork boats, beach-themed play dough tools and a treasure chest from our Cariboo Island game.

I'd like to point out that about three seconds after this bin entered the classroom, my son dug his hands in and it will probably never look like this again - so feast your eyes! 

Keeping with the pirate theme, our writing salt this month is actually fine craft sand and I've made it kind of a treasure map invitation by adding gems and tongs for 'digging' treasures.  This is such an open-ended invitation, I can't wait to see what the children create!

I've set up another writing invitation with a white board, markers, felt for erasing and handy pirate-related word cards that I found at Homeschool Creations.  She has some seriously awesome free printables, so if you haven't been there, you should go.....like now.....I'll wait.

Last up and not very pirate-related at all, our opening and closing activity inspired by the Dollar Tree that you can read all about here.

What We're Up to in May

Here is what we have in the classroom this month:

Our writing salt is back! This time lavender colored and scented.  My son (aka the beta tester) was using it right after it went into the classroom and I could hear him scratching away....then a big sniff.....and "Ahhhhh, this smells soooooooo good!"

Butterfly and Flower Counting Game

I used laminated butterfly shapes that were name tags last year and wrote the numbers in permanent marker with little dots.  I put 1-5 on one side and 6-10 on the other so there weren't too many materials to work with.  I also added tongs in case the children feel inclined to use them.

Our geranium-scented play dough from last month has held up really well.  I think because we spent quite a bit of time outside, but now the weather is getting hot and we'll be back indoors, so we're giving it another try.  I've just replaced the egg cookie cutter with a butterfly.

Our bug sensory bin is always loads of fun!  Shredded paper, plastic bugs, trees and rocks and some tree blocks, made by my big brother, to bring in some nature.

Butterfly Pattern Match Game

I printed these butterflies from Preschool Printables.  They're meant to be a file folder game, but they work wonderfully on the light table.  Laminated and ready to match!

Our sewing basket has been refreshed again this month.  I've added smaller versions of the flower buttons used the Butterfly and Flower Counting Game to replace our regular buttons.  I also found a fancy flower pin cushion to keep our tapestry needle for button-sewing safe and sound.

I made this little felted bee last year along with the felted turtles pictured below.  The idea for these happy little fellows came from my curriculum purchased from Little Acorn Learning.  I love adding little Waldorf-Inspired elements into the classroom when I can find the time to make them.

What We're Up to in April

Happy Easter!  Although the holiday is now behind us, I waited until April to roll out our Easter and Spring activities.  March was all about rainbows, shamrocks and other Irish inspirations, and I really wanted Easter to have a full month as well - so here we are, a bit late, with Easter fun.

As Seedlings evolves, I try to work in as many educational philosophies as I can, recently, I've created a 'Montessori-inspired' area in my classroom and while I don't kid myself that I'll ever actually own true Montessori materials, I make my best effort based on activities commonly found in Montessori classrooms.  I roll in some Waldorf, Reggio and the Miss Lindsey special - shake it up - and our shelves are filled with colorful and creative invitations for the children.

This month's writing salt is yellow and scented with lemon essential oil.  It's light and refreshing and gives the children an exciting new way to practice early writing skills.

This tray is a variation on the opening and closing activities of the Montessori method, the children can put the flower gems inside the eggs, count, sort, pattern, shake, you name it!

Sorting and matching are always more fun when you add tongs!!

Pink play dough scented with geranium essential oil gives this 'create an egg' invitation a little something extra for the children to discover as they play.

The sewing basket was added to the classroom just a short while ago and the children loved it immediately.  I've sent quite a few fabric scraps with buttons sewn onto them home to Moms and Dads and I couldn't be more proud of those little hard-working fingers!  I've refreshed the basket, adding new felt scraps, buttons and embroidery floss.

Our Easter/Spring sensory tub is back, this year residing in storage bin on the block table.

Each month, I rotate the materials on our art shelf.  This area is always open for the children to create whenever the mood strikes.  For April, I've added multicolored pom poms, a rainbow of tissue paper squares, sequins, and spring-themed self-stick foam shapes.  I also trace seasonal or theme-related shapes for the children to cut and decorate - this month, I've made egg shapes on sheets of craft foam.

Happy April!!

What We're Up to in March

 This month's writing salt is green and glittery.  Numbered shamrocks and pennies provide March's counting activity - Inspired by To the Lesson!

Our new sewing basket and a spring floor puzzle

 Color mixing water transfer activity and beaded rainbow, also inspired by To the Lesson!

Working hard sewing buttons.

Close-up of color mixing activity.