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!