A Robot Buzz has hit Wee Friends! Many of our friends have been interested in robots so we captured their excitement yesterday by assembling several different sized boxes to create a moveable robot. The kids grabbed markers and furiously colored their new friend. They each had a turn walking around, exploring new spatial boundaries inside a box! They continued their robot play today in the truck room.

Thanks to everyone who brought in cereal boxes! We put them to use today creating more robots! Using plastic bottle caps, pipe cleaners, beans, glue and paper, friends produced some incredible robots!

Forced by the rain to stay indoors, we exercised our gross motor muscles with  alphabet yoga, tug-of-war and rocking in the hopscotch boxes while singing “Are You Sleeping?”, toppling safely out.

We played a music game in which we hid instruments behind our puppet theatre screen. In a large group, we all sat and friends took turns going behind the screen, choosing an instrument and playing it. We then guessed which instrument we were hearing. Melinda sang the words to “Listen to the Rain” and we played  instruments as she sang, exploring loud/soft, smooth/choppy and ‘rest’  dynamics.  Enjoy the video of our exploration! 

Video of Listen to the Rain Activity

Have a great day!

A Day in the Life of Wee Friends

April 21, 2011

7:45 Friends begin to arrive! Many toddlers begin their day in the Truck Room building with Trios and Magna Tiles. A healthy hot breakfast of cinnamon toast and apples is served. These moments of self directed play are rich with lessons as the children negotiate sharing toys and ideas. One friend sits with his dad reading a book, another sits on the potty practicing for the Big Day! We sing “Sunshine on my Shoulders” and take sun baths as the warm sun radiates through the window.

9:30 The first younger group of tumblers depart. They meet an energetic Ms. Patty who greets them by name and invites them to the mat to begin. They are accustomed to the routine and know the course of exercise by heart. One friend who hasn’t mastered the low beam as yet, sails confidently across today—TWICE!

9:30 While the toddler tumblers are away, the older kids play math games. The Pirate Coin game requires them to fill up a board with coins that they’ve counted out. They play the Farm Animal Matching Egg Game.Tami works with a kindergartener as she reads the Bob Book #6.  Also, the same child wanted to investigate the non-fiction book, Is My Hamster Wild?, so Tami and a small group learned all about hamster habits, anatomy, family life, and health.  Did you know that wild hamsters set their homes up with different “rooms”?  They have living rooms, dining rooms, bathrooms, & bedrooms that are all connected by tunnels.  This is why pet hamsters love to have tunnels to run through.

10:35 Toddlers return and older kids head to tumbling.

10:40 Lunch prep begins. Today we serve toasted wheat tortillas with refried beans, watermelon (A BIG hit!!) and cucumbers. Kids head outside to play.

12:00 The neighboring church bells ring signaling us to come inside. Older toddlers have returned. We take our own coats off and hang them on our cubby hooks. We wash our own hands and sit down to eat. The older kids pass dishes, pour milk and water and then afterwards, clear and wipe both tables.

12:30 Older kids gather to begin writing in their daily journal. Two friends follow a Step by Step Drawing Book and a kindergartener helps all her friends kid spell.

12:30 The toddlers head to the back of the house to hear their daily pre-nap story. Today Melinda reads “Good Night Sweet Butterflies- A Color Dreamland” She finishes the book, invites them to close their eyes and imagine, as butterflies, what color their meadow (cot) is. They snuggle in with appropriate “pacies”, blankies and lovies.

12:30 The older non-nappers choose books and settle onto their mats.

2:44 Kids are awake. The toddlers page through the Butterfly book exclaiming “I was this one! I was this one!” We will eat raisins and whole wheat crackers and soon, head outside to enjoy this beautiful day!

A peaceful, productive Wee Friends Day. Have a terrific holiday weekend.

 Today, many friends decided they wanted to make Sculpture Dough. During the measuring of the salt, the children kept referring to it as sugar.  Melinda captured this moment and began an exploration of salt and sugar. She led a taste test of the two ingredients discussing taste, texture, color and size and had the kids chart which they liked best.  F.5.5 Use cups and tools in sand and water. F.5.6 Use common measuring tools in correct context. . 6.8 Identify similarities and differences in objects.

 With small baskets in hand, we sang “A Tisket a Tasket” discovering the MANY things you can do with a basket! (ex: “a tisket, a tasket, put your head under the basket!”)  Inspired by Sara Hickman’s jazzy rendition of “Bunnies”, we put on bunny ears and, taking turns being the leader, hopped from room to room singing as we went. We ended our musical exploration with a couple’s dance to Sara Hickman’s kid version of “I Got You Babe.” IMG_1922  (short video of singing and dancing.) F.2.1 Identify and use a variety of spatial relationships with objects (e.g., the child will move self and/or an object over, under, beside, and through as directed by an adult). F.5.2 Help others during physical activities.

Easel painting with tempra was also popular this morning, especially with our under 4’s group!

Yesterday, Tami led the kids around the classrom looking for living and nonliving things.  As at item was discovered, she took a picture.  She printed out the photos and the children sorted the printed pictures into the two categories on posted them on the bulletin board.  F.1.3 Observe and describe properties of objects. F.2.3 Classify objects by different attributes (characteristics).



 

In anticipation of the Easter Holiday, we created a new Big & Small Chicks game for the children. We added, subtracted, discussed big and small and chanted “pick-a-chick” discovering a new tongue twister! The fuzzy little chicks are soft, cuddly, and irresistible! F.2.4 Identify and use the concepts of “one more” and “one less.” F.3.6 Identify attributes of objects. F.3.7 Give reason of placement of objects. F.3.12 Apply one to one correspondence with objects and people. F.2.11 Describe addition situations for numbers less than five.                                                                                                                                      
While the big kids were swimming, our younger friends painted tissue butterflies with water color.

Today for our nap time story the younger children enjoyed the story, Splish Splash Spring, by Jan Carr. It is a great book that builds phonetic awareness with it’s wonderful rhyming and rhythm. The kids clapped along to keep the beat of the story. F.1.23 Clap out syllables in word songs F.1.43 Use new vocabulary learned from experiences. F.3.2 Actively look for or keep attending to things that an adult points to, shows, or talks about. F.3.3 Watch and listen to a story to completion or for ten minutes or more.

Several friends created complex structures out of wooden blocks.

Have a great day!

For this rainy, cold spring day (insert pirate “arrrgggg!!!!!”) we pulled out the shadow puppet theatre. Using large plush flowers, plastic leaves and music to inspire ‘growing’ we experimented with shadow and light. We made flowers and leaves burst from the soil, we blew in the wind, and got wet with rainfall. We also hopped onto the WF Bus singing our alphabet version of “Wheels on the Bus”. F.1.16 Identify first letter of own name. F.1.2 Interact with and explore a variety of objects, and materials.

Since we couldn’t go outside, we went on a Searching for Spring Hunt around the classroom, identifying things that are growing or alive. It was interesting to learn how much our friends know about the four seasons, spring, in particular. We used tally marks when counting found items. We will continue this study as we move into gardening and summertime! F.2.1 Participate in activities related to number sequencing and counting.

Play dough art and housekeeping were the other main areas of interest today. Several toddlers played house identifying the mom, baby and other family relationships. The family members took naps, read books, and ate meals together. At one point a friend exclaimed to the teacher “Please be quiet! The baby is sleeping!” F.1.1 Pretend to read a book. F.1.42 Pretend to do something or be someone else.

Tami and Charles were busy this weekend building and installing a new art easel and area for the Wee Wee’s! They added two small gates that will help the Wee and Wee Wee Friends (and teachers!) take care of each other. She also added stepping logs to the slide area! 

Enjoy your day!

 

After lots of morning game playing, we decided to make our own board game. Melinda sat with a small group of older kids to brainstorm what type of game to create. They decided upon a  game with ‘directives’ for each player to act out when their piece lands on the square.

Each friend contributed several ideas such as  “sing you’re A,B,C’s”, “count backwards from 10”, “sing your favorite song”, “tell about the last time you got into trouble”-oh and “sing the Wee Friends Anthem”!!! F.4.12 Dictate something for an adult to write down. F.7.3 Stay with an adult-directed activity or story for 10-15 minutes. 

 The magnetic ball and rod exploration continues with several toddlers. Today, however, they created standing microphones and belted out their favorite tunes! F.1.21 Recite/sing one rhyme or song.F.2.6 Sing songs from favorite movies or television shows from memory. 

 We had our second Easter Egg Hunt this morning and all Wee Friends joined in! F.3.2 Talk about enjoying movement activities.

Please remember to pick up your child’s artwork placed in the narrow shelves above the cubbies! Have a restful and wonderful weekend!

Thank you, Kellie, for the lily-of-valley bulbs and everyone for bringing in cereal boxes!

Today we transformed our Hopscotch Room into a pirate ship! We began with discussing several new pirate words (ex: rigging, prow, crow’s nest). As we learned the meaning of the word we hunted for the item in our house (ex: rigging) or determined where in Hopscotch that item might appear (ex: crow’s nest). We donned new pirate bandanas and hopped aboard the Wee Friend’s Junk. We used our new vocabulary as we sailed the seas in a musical improv. After seeing a snapping turtle at the farm yesterday, one friend exclaimed “I see snapping turtles!” We became ‘marooned’ on an island where the pirates found gold coins. This turned into a gold coin counting game for the bigger kids! It’s wonderful to see how our friends communicate, negotiate and problem solve while at sea! Not to mention the amazing (and hilarious!) stories that unfold. F.1.42 Pretend to do something or be someone. F.1.43 Use new vocabulary learned from experiences. F.6.15 Use trial and error to solve problems. F.6.16 Generalize a solution to a new situation.

While our older friends were at swimming, our toddlers counted and marched to “The Ants Go Marching” We turned a sheet into a parachute that we shook up and down and crawled under. F.1.1 Sing and dance to a number song. F.3.1 Exhibit self-confidence while participating in movement activities.

A small group of Wee Friends continued to explore how many syllables make up their name. Many friends wanted to include other loved ones: we counted El-mo (1-2!), Bun-ny (1-2!), and Dai-sey (1-2!) We’ve been working on this since last fall and the kids are mastering this musical rhythmic game!

Amy Crosson gave each Wee Friend an opportunity to plant tomato seeds in a flat, preparing them for our upcoming garden work! Thank you, Amy!! F.3.10 Take care of familiar plants and animals. F.3.13 Sort things by attribute or characteristic.

Please save your empty cereal boxes for us! We have another pirate project under our sleeve!

This morning we turned a Tupperware ‘lazy susan’ into a pirate’s compass. We found different pictures of compasses and added letters to represent North, South, East and West. Friends spun the compass and guessed which direction it would land on. Some friends found the direction on a map we taped to the table. Others guessed which Wee Friends names started with an N, S, E or W.  F.6.4 Make simple cause/effect predictions F.2.4 Apply previously learned information to new situations.

Many friends measured, mixed and kneaded salt dough with the intention of creating pirate coins. As friends began making coins, they expressed how tricky it was because the dough was thin and hard to work with. This led to a conversation/comparison of thick/thin and large/small circles. Some of the older friends combed the environment to find different sized circles. They then connected the previous compass study into the dough by creating compasses. F.5.6 Use common measuring tools in correct context. F.2.3 Compare and contrast own creations and those of others.

Have a terrific weekend!

 

 

Thank you, Charlie, for the coffee filters!

This morning Melinda played the piano while a small group of friends chose instruments and sang our Wee Friends Pirate Shanty:

Wee Friends Pirates

(sung to the tune of Tingalayo)

Wee Friends Pirates, we sail the mighty seas!

Wee Friends Pirates, we sail the mighty seas!

Me pirate walks, me pirate talks,

Me pirate sails the mighty seas!

Me pirate walks, me pirate talks,

Me pirate sails the mighty seas!

(repeat)

As we sang, we discussed/explored how to produce a rolled ‘r’ sound with our tongues. Enjoy singing this with your pirate at home! F.3.2 Moderate movements to tempo (fast/slow) and dynamics (loud/soft) of music heard. F.2.2 Express self in dramatic play through.language development activities.

Some younger friends climbed into the art loft and identified transportation vehicles by color and form and then sorted them into corresponding colored cups.  F.1.18 Apply one-to-one correspondence with objects and people.

 We introduced new pirate felt board story pieces and a small group of older friends played our pirate coin counting game.  F.1.2 Count a number of objects up to (fifteen).

 We put orange red and green water colors out on the easel inspiring some fabulous creations! F.2.17 With various media, use shapes, lines and color.