SCISSORS!

This morning we practiced using scissors, cutting from a variety of different magazines. For our younger friends, we discussed how to hold scissors and practiced opening and closing them. For all friends, we talked about how to safely pass scissors to a friend. One friend created a collage with her cuttings.

Many of our child-driven activities have an improvisational quality to them. To support our doctor study, Laurie started to play “Mind Your Manners” and friends quickly gathered to dance and sing. Melinda expressed “Let’s use our new green mats!” So we paused our music and began singing “My space, my space, here I am in my space…..my space, my space, only me!” When friends had established safe spatial boundaries in which to move their bodies, we pressed ‘play’ to resume “Mind Your Manners”. Technical difficulty (bad disc!). Laurie turned around to see friends quietly waiting for the music on their mats. Melinda exclaimed “I see you all waiting patiently and happily!” As friends watched and listened, Laurie inserted “If You’re Happy and You Know It”. Friends clapped and stomped and shouted! From there, 4 friends at a time played a watching/listening follow the leader game called: “Troll Freeze”: one friend is the troll leader and whenever he/she turns around, the following trolls freeze and drop to the ground. Then, a friend who finished Troll Freeze rolled himself into the mat and said “Look! I’m a hot dog!” Other friends joined in, going nuts over being hot dogs with green buns. More singing ensued and it was time to go outside. Melinda then guided our friends as they rolled their hot dog buns up and placed them into the basket.

This all lasted 25-30 minutes and while it reads with a frenetic quality, the transitions were terrifically smooth and logical with teachers and Wee Friends watching and listening closely to one another for the next inspired spark.

Now, what to do with the instant, exuberant (accidental?!) interest in hot dogs? Any ideas?!

Have a great weekend!!!