Pumpkins and Puddles

When I first saw these Pumpkin Drip Art Paintings by The Imagination Tree, I knew I had to try them.  Granted, it took me two years, but we finally gave it a shot!!

Monkey had never tried any sort of drip art before, but when the instructions are as simple as "squeeze the paint onto the pumpkin and see what happens", you really can't go wrong.

He had a blast and thought his puddles were just amazing too!  Clearly, he's having fun!

We had two pumpkins to paint, so he was a bit conservative with the first one, but by the time he got to the second one, his goal was to finish all of the paint we had left.  And the puddles got bigger and bigger and bigger!!

The pumpkins took a day to dry and I had to move them around a few times to get the bottoms to dry completely, but check out the finished product!  Interestingly, the glitter paint didn't look glittery until it was dried, so we had quite a surprise when we checked on them the next morning.

I definitely see more drip art in our future!

Easy Jack-O-Lantern for Preschoolers

Making a Jack-O-Lantern, though always part of Halloween fun, has never really struck me as a great activity for preschoolers.  The pulp provides endless sensory excitement, but tends to be hard to remove with little hands and the cutting of the face is obviously better left to the grown-ups, so how can we get the kiddos more involved??  Here are some tips that I found very useful for Monkey this year.

First, be sure to cut the top wide enough for your little one to reach all the way down inside easily.  I used a sturdy metal ice cream scooper to scrape all of the pulp and seeds from the sides of the pumpkin first, then it was Monkey's turn to dive in and pull it all out.  Loosening everything up first let him focus on the squishy, icky awesomeness that IS pumpkin pulp!

After he'd pulled everything out and we set the seeds aside for roasting, I handed him a Sharpie and had him draw a face.  He started with teeny dots for eyes, so I reminded him that I would need a large shape to cut out and he tried again.

Once the face was complete, I did the cutting and he was thrilled to see his drawing come to life.  He couldn't wait to see what his Jack-O-Lantern looked like in the dark, so we found a dark room and tested it out.

Boo!

Happy carving!!

Autumn Nature Walks in the Desert

I have an older brother, two actually, but one who gets his kicks poking fun at our dirt lot of a backyard while he is surrounded by acres and acres of lush greenery in Pennsylvania.  It's all in good fun, of course, but I got to thinking that I talk quite a bit about living in the desert and people may not actually know that we do, in fact, have more than just cacti around here.

With the arrival of cooler mornings, we've been taking an early nature walk each day to a grassy area near my home.  It's a short and very easy walk, but the affect it has on the children is almost miraculous.  We have outdoor play time each day, in the aforementioned dirt lot of a back yard, but nothing can compare to soaking in some real nature time.  I can't say it's as wonderful as lush greenery, but my community at least attempts to beautify the area with native trees and plants.  As you'll see in my photos, the grass isn't so green, but, hey, it IS the desert, grass isn't really meant to grow here anyway.

We lucked out this morning with a visit from a very unusual fellow.  How cool is this guy?  Amazingly enough, the second parent to arrive mentioned he was there and he was kind enough to stick around for photos and observations.

During our walk, we observed some plants talking about colors, shapes and sizes.

 This one reminded us of fireworks!

Once we arrived at the grassy area, we spotted a few dragonflies and the children were off and chasing!

 Next time I'll bring the telescopic lens and get a real shot of the dragonflies.

 Once we're all tired out, we head home with friends.

 Have you added nature walks to your day yet?  Give it a try!!

Easy as Apple Pie

For at least half of our day, until about noon, we've been enjoying some fall-ish weather here in Arizona.  Each year, as fall approaches, I wait eagerly for apple time to come.  No, we don't have apple trees, but we can bring tons of fun apple activities into our classroom.

Among my favorite activities is baking apple pie with the kiddos, it's ridiculously easy and the children get a wonderful sensory experience.  We start apple pie day by reading one of my all-time favorite apple books, The Apple Pie Tree by Zoe Hall. 

The best thing about this book is that at the end, there is a recipe for apple pie!  I've used this recipe for all of my apple pies for years and it hasn't failed me once, it's a keeper and easy enough to do with children in a limited amount of time.

After our story, we get to work.  First, we all get a turn with the handy-dandy apple peeler/corer/slicer I picked up at a garage sale for $10.  Ok, so it looks like something out of the middle ages, but the kids LOVE it!

Once we have all those little apple rings, we have to cut them into small pieces, so we use our vegetable choppers and then pop it all into a bowl.

Add some sugar and cinnamon, give it a stir and into the pie crust it goes!  If you want to take a short cut, you can always use a refrigerated pie crust, which works just as well.

After about 45-50 minutes of your home or classroom smelling unbelievably delicious, you finally get to taste your work!

The kids always approve!!









 
In addition to our pie, another big part of our week is uncovering the 'secret' inside of the apple.  We recite this apple poem at circle time to build the mystery:

Apple Secrets
by Betty Jones

Who would think an apple
Red, gold, or green and round
Would have a secret deep inside
When cut it can be found!
I thought this secret only shone
In deep and darkest night
But when I cut my apple
It shines with five points bright!
And now you know the secret
Where shinning stars are found
In every crunchy apple
Red, gold, or green and round. 

If the children are listening, they can figure out what the 'secret' is, but more often than not, they just get more and more excited until we finish out our apple theme with this Apple Story.

After we've finally discovered the secret inside of the apple, we make apple stamps to take home so our families can share in all of our new apple knowledge!

Have you done any fun apple activities this fall with your kiddos??

Encouraging Team Work

Yes, I know, it's been very quiet here on the Seedlings blog and things have been insanely busy.  I'm not sure I've ever experienced a new school year quite like this one.  Our classroom has taken some getting used to and we've had to make some adjustments along the way due to other unforeseen circumstances, but we're picking ourselves back up for September and starting with a fresh daily rhythm and lots of fun in store.

This month, we spent time getting to know our new space and each other.  I realized very quickly that the size of the classroom was overwhelming for most of the children and that I'd have to exert a bit more control over their daily activities.  In general, the only activities I oversee are circle and snack time - the rest of the day is run by the children, however, the space offers too many options, especially for my younger kiddos and I found myself often dealing with squabbles over space and materials as well as issuing far too many reminders about classroom behavior.  Because most of my students are returning and not brand new to preschool, I was a bit disheartened with having to take a step backwards and removing some of the control they'd rightfully earned in our old classroom, but with a new space comes new challenges, so we've tightened the reigns a bit on our daily rhythm.

One area that I felt could be improved immediately was group work such as floor puzzles, complex block structures, imaginative dramatic play scenes, etc.  I happened to be given a set of foam letters that can ONLY be assembled in alphabetical order - score!  I set Monkey to work on them, while I sat across the room helping him to remember which letter was next.  Within two minutes, another student joined him - who has mastered alphabetical order - and I was able to disappear into the background while they worked together to form their 'letter road'.  As they worked, they attracted another friend, and the three of them managed to assemble the entire alphabet with no arguments!

Of course, they weren't finished yet.  I pulled out the letters from the box and said, "Hmmm, I wonder if we can find homes for all of these letters....."  They went to work....

At this point, I thought it would be safe to snap a few photos without being a distraction.

Everyone had letters, everyone chose one at a time, and no one said 'mine!' the whole time.....phew!

They were so interested, they even managed to put in the little tiny pieces in the middle of the open letters.  After the 'road' was assembled, they grabbed some cars and drove on it for an additional 20 minutes.  From start to finish, they'd worked together for nearly 45 minutes!  I was thrilled!  And the best part was that after all that time working together, we didn't have any arguments for the remainder of class.

This month, we'll be going back to a daily rhythm I used years ago when I first opened Seedlings, starting with a table activity.  Each day, I will set up at activity on our large snack table.  It could be anything from play dough to tracing to coloring, etc.  As the children arrive, they will find a place at the table and work until everyone is at school.  After our table activity, we'll move right into circle time and then begin our day.  It is my hope that if we start our day as a cohesive group, we can finish it in the same fashion.  I'll keep you updated on that!  For anyone who might be interested, here is a look at our daily rhythm, please note, there are no times listed as the amount of time spent on each part of our day is determined by the interests of the children:

Seedlings Nursery School Daily Rhythm

2013-2014

M,W,F

8:30am-11:00am or 11:30am-2:00pm

Arrival and Table Activity

Greetings and getting settled in for the day

Circle Time and Stories

Finger plays, songs, stories, rhymes, games

Indoor Play Time or Outdoor Play Time

Hands-on, child-directed activities; natural learning; fine motor, dramatic play, language, math, science.

Art and Handwork

Process-based art activity

Potty and Hand Washing

Hygiene and responsibility

Snack

Manners and group dining conversation

Independent Reading

Music and Movement

Movement songs, scarves, bubbles, instruments

Goodbyes

 

Our NEW Classroom!!

Here it is, 8pm on Sunday night, and our new classroom is FINALLY ready for the big reveal!  It has literally taken me all week and some amazing helpers to get this done.  Before I reveal the awesomeness that is our new classroom, let's take a moment to reminisce about the old classroom....

Not too shabby, I'll admit, but now, we have this....

And another view....

And the last little corner....

And here is a more detailed look at the different play areas.  Please forgive my photography skills; the room gets amazing light, which is awesome for class time, not so great for picture-taking....

Our light table sits in the side hallway where it gets the least ambient light from the windows.  I've added a mirror here for fun reflective play.  Because this is such a small area, I've limited the number of children who can play here to two at a time.

Just outside of that little hallway is our block area, also with mirrors.  I wish I could have put the mirrors right against the floor, but the baseboards created a problem.  The white book displays in each area are made of vinyl gutter, which I had cut (not very happily) by someone at Lowe's.  Also in each area are framed reminders (rules) that come in handy with a variety of different parent helpers rotating in and out of the classroom each month.  The reminders are simple and can be read right off the sheet when the children need them, for example, "Blocks are for building."

Moving clockwise around the room, we come to our doll/house area.  We are eagerly awaiting another shelf to create a divider between the blocks and the dolls, but for now, use your imagination.  We have three new dolls with accessories as well as a dollhouse with two families and furniture.  The felt board can be used for story time but we also have plenty of open-ended pieces for the children to make up their own stories.  In the far right of the picture, we have our cleaning tools.  Those are real tools - including the child-sized vacuum - and the children will be expected to use them.  I don't foresee any issues with cleaning, it tends to be one of the more popular activities in class.

This area is our independent work area.  The items on the black shelf can be taken to the table and used by one child or by one child with a teacher.  I created this area mostly with my son in mind.  Monkey gets really involved in his play and sometimes doesn't want to be disturbed.  This corner provides a sanctuary for anyone who needs a little bit of space.  Yes, there are two chairs at each table, and it will be quite the exercise in self-control, but with such a huge classroom and only 6 children (2 of whom are my own), I'm not anticipating a major problem once everyone adjusts to the rhythm and routine of the class.

Here is closer look at the kind of invitations in the independent work area.  Small baskets of glass gems, buttons and rocks, each with a mirror; puzzles; sand tray with sandpaper letters and numerals; Montessori sorting box.  The items on this shelf will be changed every other week or monthly depending on our themes.

Next up!  Our play kitchen.  Not much has changed in our kitchen except for some new plush food, a few new tools and some fun food-related books.  The tools that are hanging on the shelf on the left may get relocated once we add a few dress-up items.  You may be wondering about the 'No Good Job' sign above the kitchen.  Not only have I hung reminders for the children, but for the adults also!  If you are still saying 'Good Job', here are some reasons to stop.  I've also provided a handy list of what to say instead - I've been reading this one a lot myself.  I may have banished empty praise from my vocabulary, but that doesn't necessarily mean I remember to replace it with anything.

Our new sensory tables are filled with rice and beans, respectively.  I have designated a special shelf for the tools that can be used in the tables.  I'll be adding to this shelf as I find new and interesting things to try.

Our art area is jam-packed with collage materials.  Each day, I plan to set an art invitation out on the table, but the children will be free to add to their creations using anything they find on the shelves.  I've also displayed a few books about art for inspiration.  There is also a small clipboard here, and in the block and light table areas, which is intended to be a place for children to formulate ideas and draw out their plans.  I am aware that conceptualizing in this way will be completely new to most of my students, but we're going to work on it together!

In the center of our room is the group work area.  The items on this shelf can be worked on with a friend or two or three (if the child desires).  Some of the activities here will be rotated on a monthly basis.  This area is kind of a science/math/language mash-up - everything relates, so why not just put it all together?  The basket on the left is full of play silks, excellent for dress-up and pretty much anything else you can imagine.  The white table on the right will be our future Peace Table.  I am compiling a basket of items - handheld labyrinth, 'mind jar', books about meditation and some other items to be determined.  The table will be a place for two children or a child and an adult or one child to go when there needs to be resolution or calming.  This is not a 'time-out' table; the children will decide when they feel the Peace Table is necessary and will have to ask for the basket of items which will be put away until needed.

On the other side of our group work area is our magnetic white board.  I will be using this board at circle time on occasion, but the children have magnetic letters and numbers as well as some shapes available at all times.  I also plan to make some fun magnetic learning activities to rotate monthly.  The green rug is our circle time rug, where we will come together each day for songs, stories and good chats. :)

Here's a quick peek at our entryway.  This little corner is just inside the front door and isn't directly attached to the classroom.  Each child has a cubby for his or her belongings.  Our nature 'table' is currently located on top of the cubbies but MAY be moved in the future.  The entryway also houses parent info such as our calendar, daily rhythm and co-op sign up sheet.

That about sums it up!!  I hope you enjoyed the tour of our new classroom and I look forward to seeing it in action for the first time tomorrow!!