Last week we...

I guess I'm always running a bit behind- can anyone else relate?
Last week we talked about our first, middle, and last names. We wrote them on place cards that we use for circle time as well as over the tracings of our bodies on the cement outside.
We talked about our hands. We counted our fingers and named them all. We sang Where is Thumbkin with the names of each finger. We talked about the things we liked to do with our hands. We traced our hands and decorated them with "jewels".
We talked about sign language and I showed the children the sign language alphabet. We have been practicing the letter A and F in sign along with singing the sound. We learned this is another important way people use their hands.
We used our hands to squeeze soap suds out of sponges. We could feel, smell, and see in this activity. Multi sensory activities are best for children.
We have been using our new outdoor hockey sticks and ball scoops as many of our friends are transitioning from parallel play to cooperative play. They try so hard to pass the ball back and forth- it makes me laugh.
We explored our sense of touch by looking at items in a spa set that I won in a raffle and never used. We felt the rolling massager, bumpy hand massager, rough pumice stone, smooth ribbon that was wrapped around it, bristles on the brush, and ridges on the luffa sponge. We liked to use these things gently on our friends backs and hands.
We did some roller painting with brown paint outside.
We played with cooked noodles in the sensory bin.

I'm Back!

We are in full swing now! These past two weeks we have really been trying to settle into a schedule that works for all of us. all of the children have been doing great during our daily group time. I have introduced the calender and weather chart as well as name tags for them to sit on during our group time. Last week we did a taste and smell test using different foods and spices as well as soap. Popcorn and marshmallows were the favorite things for all of the children to smell band taste. We went around the circle and told our friends our favorite things to taste.
Quinn says his favorite taste is his fingers and Dylan said breakfast.
We also looked at parts of an apple and made apple prints with paint outside. We made the letter a with our hands in sign language and also made the sound. We made apple honey challah bread for Rosh Hashana.
I am trying to make the backyard an outdoor class room with plenty of large and small motor, fine motor, and dramatic play/ building activities. The children have enjoyed painting, blocks, spider webs, squirt bottles, balls, and climbing. Last week Ryan climbed into the tree house and saw the neighbors cat catch a bird and eat it. I skipped watching that but could not pull them away. Bode likes to carry our basket of cars in and out to play with wherever he goes.
I found a used puppet theatre and put it under the structure and tree outside. We set up chairs and watched our friends put on a show for us. West told us a story about a giraffe names tree man and sang wheels on the bus during his performance and Sophia sang itsy bitsy spider with the spider puppet. She was also a very good audience member and sat through everyone's performance.
Along with the puppet theatre I found a bunch of toy tools that the kids have been fixing up the "fire house" structure with- the wee woo house as Brady calls it.
We have also been talking and reading books about feelings.
We have been having a great time with our friend Adriana who helps us at the park and during lunch. We do outdoor circle times on these days and run and run and run in the grassy field at Boyle park. We also like to explore on and around a huge tree that has been uprooted.

Going Buggy in July

We have spent July studying the wonder of bugs. These are some of the activities we have done...
We learned that an insect has 6 legs. We counted sets of six blocks, crayons, and bugs. We learned that spiders are not insects and that they have 8 legs.
We looked at the different homes of bugs.
We made our own bugs from different shaped paper then told stories about each of the bugs we made. The children got creative with the things they ate, their names, and the things their bugs did for fun.
We made bugs from our finger prints on paper then took them to use as an at home family counting activity.
We made big stuffed bugs from cut paper grocery bags. We painted them, stuffed them, then stapled them together.
We learned how to use insect stencils.
We have been singing the ants go marching, baby bumble bee, and the bee hive finger play.
We went to a "treasure store" and found two matching new scooters to use.
We got a new whale pool but it has been too cold to use so we have been using our new water table instead. We love to use pump soap and sponges to "wash" the dishes in it. We also like to fill up our squirt bottles and water the plants.
Our indoor sensory table has been full of rock salt. We have been busy pouring and filling, scooping and digging.
As July comes to an end we will continue with our bug project and move into exploring camping, the sun, boats, and hot dogs!!
So much fun to come come as we set up a tent city in the yard and create camping gear.
We also welcome back our friend Quinn and Ryan.

Ice cream days

Last week at Cookies n' Dirt we...
Got seven new monster trucks. We made a big track in the dirt outside. We worked on prepositions as we made holes, tunnels, bridges, and obstacles to go on, off, over, under, and through. (language, small and large motor skills, cognitive development, cooperative play, science& building)
We made yogurt popsicles with candy sprinkles on the tips. We watched as the "liquid" turned into a "solid" - use these words at home as it can take up to 20 repetitions of a word for a child to remember it!!! (language, science & sensory)
We squeezed a liquid mixture of flour paint, and salt, onto paper to make "melted ice cream" pictures. The children loved to squeeze every bit of the mixture and watch the colors blend. ( sensory, motor skills, language, creativity, dramatic play, science, cognitive skills)
We made collages by choosing pictures we liked in magazines.( art, small motor skills, creativity)
We made Father's day gifts using plaster of Paris and talked about our Dads. (socio-emotional development, language, cognitive skills, creative arts)
We harvested some of our beautiful snap peas growing in our garden. The children could not get enough. They did not like the shells- only the peas. We talked about what a healthy food peas are. (health, science, language, small motor skills)
We went to Blackie's pasture and collected shells and sticks. We also looked for crabs.
We played with our bubble machine.

It's Summer!

Hello all! My computer is still down so I will not be able to put any pics on the blog anytime soon but will try to find a way to share them with you. It has FINALLY stopped raining and so we have been spending a lot of time outside!! We got some new hoops to play with, chairs to sit on outside, buckets and shovels, and a sandbox.
We have been using paintbrushes and water to paint the fence and sponges and soap to clean our outdoor kitchen.
We learned the Hokey Pokey last week and the kids always want me to sing my "alligator" song.
Our sensory bucket is filled with cut up bead necklaces and containers- the children like to grab hand fulls of them- it feels good.
We made root beer Popsicles. We talked about what a liquid is as opposed to a solid. We poured the liquid into our molds and watched as it became a solid by freezing. We learned that freezing happens when something get really cold- like ice.
In the dramatic play area we have been busy making an ice cream parlor. I try to get them to take turns "ordering" and "paying" but everyone wants to be the "ice cream guy".
This week we will be making fathers day gifts and ice cream!!

Good times with good friends!