Dramatic Play
With lots of interest and talk about the ocean and sea animals, the dramatic play area became an underwater coral reef complete with a submarine! We had so much fun putting on our scuba diving gear, including: wetsuits, snorkels, and oxygen tanks, and going diving in the ocean! We had computer keyboards to record our research but we also loved sending messages to family and friends! When we were under water, we were able to look at all the different creatures. There were humongous turtles, whales, and even sharks! Friends really enjoyed catching the sharks and bringing them into the submarine. They were hard to take care of because they eat a lot of food; there were a few times they even ate our computers!
Block Area
We spent a lot of time building tracks and roads with the ramps and exploring the tubes and tunnels both for cars and the balls! We loved playing with all the sea creatures too and matching them to what was in the dramatic play area. We were interested in learning all of the different names especially the different sharks and whales! We also enjoyed the Lincoln Logs- but not as much for building, just for props, food, sticks etc!
Nature Area
We used the viewfinders as cameras to take photos of all the different types of animals in the submarine. We also used the seashells as food for the animals. There were different flavors and shells and friends enjoyed feeding the animals with spicy ones best- that's definitely our favorite flavor, or at least the theory of it!
Quiet Area
With the gloomy weather lately, it has been nice gathering our friends in the quiet area to read a nice, comforting book. Some of our favorites these past weeks include, “Baby Beluga,” by Raffi and “You Can’t Win Them All, Rainbow Fish,” by Marcus Pfister. We really enjoyed singing Baby Beluga and looking at all the pictures in the book. We enjoyed pointing out the different types of water animals in the books and finding it in our classroom too. The babies continue to get lots of love and attention- and are especially well fed!
Art/Literacy
In the art area, we started to get into drawing shapes! Many friends enjoyed drawing circles. We then added different things to the pictures that turned the circles into something else! Some friends drew balloons that flew with birds and some friends turned their circles into turtles; the possibilities were endless! We also made class art with water animal themed stamps! It was fun looking at all the different types of animals appearing in color on paper and practicing pressing hard onto the stamp to get the ink and then onto the paper to transfer it!
Gross Motor
We really enjoyed using different types of items and sliding them down the climbing structure’s slide. We noticed some items went faster than others and some items slid off to the side more often. We also really enjoyed using the climbing structure as a “hiding house.” We would gather our friends and bring our computers to think of ways to run away from the monsters.
Cognitive Area
Whoosh, Zoom, Crash! There were lots of different types of vehicles built from the bristle blocks in the cognitive area. Some friends created airplanes, helicopters, rockets, monster trucks, and more! It was fun sculpting the vehicles and noticing how different they would look when we added more blocks. Friends also enjoyed showing how they built their own structures so other friends could recreate them in their own unique ways. We loved using the abacus' too and had fun using the music sticks to spin the pieces. The letter puzzle continues to be a big hit.
Music Area
We have loved the pianos and exploring different patterns as well as playing them with other objects than our fingers! We also love the tambourines and hitting them with the rhythm sticks- Some friends even fit them around their heads!
Outside
We went on adventures to the aquarium! We loved being able to ride the train together and one day it was raining which added even more excitement! We got to see tons of fish and sea creatures, and loved being able to watch and talk to the scuba divers! Other highlights were Claude the albino alligator (who actually was swimming around!), the penguins (who were equally as intrigued by us as we were with them!) and the color changing jellyfish. We also got to touch starfish, sea urchins and even shark eggs in the touch tank and loved exploring the cold water and different textures. We had so much fun!
With the wet weather lately, we’ve been getting lots of time playing in the rain. It was fun trying to catch the rain with our hands and tongues! We also put out a container to see how much water we could catch in the rain. We used the rainwater for our soups. Since the water was cold, friends built fire stations to help heat up food for everyone. We also used the climbing structure as a tree house to keep ourselves warm and protected from the rain. We build lots of structures with the blocks and pipes and made lots of yummy food in the mud kitchen that often was filled with water too! We were also very helpful everyday with cleaning off the slide with towels so our friends could slide down without getting wet and scooping up the bark that falls down the stairs.