Monday, April 17, 2017

Buddies' Riddles

Last week the big buddies created an activity for their little buddies.
Each of them were given an egg, a little animal and a card.
Their task was to think of four clues to describe their animal.
They wrote them out and numbered their card to match the number on the egg.
Ms. Smith, their teacher, checked to see if the big buddies could guess the clues.
When done we were ready to get together.
We met in the gym and after singing a song to warm up the buddy pairs
settled in all around the gym.
Each pair had an egg and the matching clues.
The big buddies read the clues while the little buddy tried to guess what was in the egg.
The big buddies read the clues and helped the little buddy guess.
They didn't rush, they encouraged and they had fun.
Then after guessing and opening the egg they put it altogether and moved to a new egg.
The little buddies showed great patience waiting to open the egg.
They listened, they focused and they guessed.
They were rewarded by playing with the toy with their big buddy.
I was impressed, as I'm always am, with how the big buddies 
help the little buddies feel comfortable.
This is a drop in program and most visits the big buddies have a new
little buddy which makes it very difficult 
to build relationships.
But they have learned wonderful skills that allow them to relate
with each new buddy they meet.
The parents and grandparents have been very impressed.






36 comments:

  1. Hi,
    This subject was really fun and I enjoyed it a lot.
    I think the concept was a great idea.
    Have a fantastic day,
    ~Journey

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    1. Thank you Journey, it was a fun activity to with your class.

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  2. Hi Maureen
    I loved making the the activates for the little buddies it was so fun. my little buddies wear so energetic it was hared to keep up.
    ~Kaya

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    1. They do have a lot of energy and it shows that they enjoyed playing with you.

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  3. Hi Maureen,
    I really liked all the cool pictures. I had tons of fun with my buddy. I had to give them other clues like for I dinosaur I told them they ride a train in a TV show (Dinosaur Train). I loved all the clues and I am super excited for thursday.
    -Hudson

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    1. Very clever to create more clues to help the little buddy guess the animal.

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  4. Hi Maureen,
    This is an awesome blog post! I really like little buddy's, and I think that the little buddy enjoy it to. I really loved watching my little buddy open the egg to see what animal was inside. My little buddy got the majority of the eggs but some were hard. We got through around 15 eggs and she got like 12 out of 15. I am so excited for next buddy class. Bye!
    -Briana

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    1. Thank you for sharing your experience and your reflection on how you felt the activity went. Do you have any ideas of what we could do next with our little buddies.

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  5. Hi Maureen,
    I love working with our little buddies and I'm glad you and the parents enjoy it when our class comes in. I remember when Talya (my little sister) was in strong start and she loved big buddies too.
    How long have you been teaching strong start? How many years have you decided to have big buddies?
    Bye and have a cake-filled day
    Jayden

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    1. Thanks Jayden for your comments and observations. Yes we do love getting together with the big buddies as it helps the parents feel comfortable having their little one around bigger students.
      I've been facilitating StrongStart for ten years and have had a variety of grades for our big buddies. Buddying with another class helps build a stronger school community. We can learn more about each other on a fun level.

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  6. Hi Maureen
    This activity was very fun. The kids seemed to have lots of fun. My buddies were quite good guessers. They had a lot of fun. The song at the end was very fun for the strong starts. We should do more fun activities like this one.
    ~James

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    1. Thanks James, I'm glad you and your buddy had fun singing and playing Ring Around the Rosie. We sure had a gigantic circle.
      Do you have any ideas for fun activities to do with our little buddies?

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  7. Hi Maureen!
    I always have a really fun time with our strong start buddies but this time was the best. I had two buddies with me, they were about a year apart in age. At first they were taking the animal and not really sharing, but by the end they were sharing and communicating to each other so well that the parents and I didn't even have to tell them to share! I just thought it was a really cool experience. Thanks for planning all these great activities!
    -Livea

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    1. Livea thanks for these comments. It is great to hear when children are learning together. I believe it is because you and the parents model positive interactions. Thanks, Maureen

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  8. Hi Maureen,
    It's Kayley! This buddy activity was fun to do! I got the dinosaur to write! It was easy to write but it was a bit tricky for my buddys to guess. But they did eventually guessed it with a few more hints. I love how your posts tell story's . From us writing the clues, reading the clues and then opening it.
    Have a wonderful day,
    ~Kayley<3

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    1. HI Kayley, thanks for sharing your thoughts on the activity. Thanks for being flexible, thinking of more hints to help your little buddy figure out the dinosaur.
      I enjoy writing the posts and I thank Ms Smith for taking wonderful pictures that each tell a story.
      You have a wonderful day too.

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  9. Hello Maureen!
    I agree that it has been difficult to form relationships with our buddies, but I am still in awe of how adaptable they all are. I have such a blast while playing with our StrongStart buddies and I excitedly await our next visit with them!
    ~Lyric

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    1. Thank you Lyric for having a wonderful attitude it really helps make each visit special.

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  10. Hello Maureen!
    I had lots of fun at the egg riddle games, I was a really good year with our buddies!
    ~Carson Div 12

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    1. I'm very glad that you enjoyed the activity. Yes it has been a fun year and I look forward to our next visit.

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  11. Hi Maureen, this is Tyler from Mrs. Smiths class. I found this activity to interesting by seeing the little buddies trying to name the animals but my buddies didn't speak much English and they were learning. They really liked seeing the animals though over all it's a good experience.~Tyler

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    1. Hi Tyler, it is more of a challenge when your little buddy speaks another language. I'm glad you used the animal as a way to connect with them.

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  12. Hi,
    I remember the egg riddles like it was yesterday. The buddy I was with really enjoyed it, she loved the eggs so much that she wanted to take one home! :)
    ~Arielle

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    1. What a great way to show how much she enjoyed the game and time with you that she wanted to take it home.

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  13. Hi Maureen,
    I do agree how it is hard to make a good relationship with our buddies and I also think we have come a long way in connecting with them. I really liked this specific project with our buddies because it was fun to see them think and solve the riddles.
    ~Daniel

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    1. Thanks Daniel for your feedback. I'm very happy to hear that you are making connections with the little buddies even if you don't have the same one each visit.
      Can you think of another activity that we could do together?

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  14. Hi Maureen,

    This was a really fun project to do with our little buddies. I love that every Thursday I get to connect with them and play. My little buddies loved this activity and were so thrilled to see what was in the egg each time.
    See you next week.
    ~Andrea

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    1. How wonderful, Andrea, that you both enjoyed this project. I wonder what activity could we do next?

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  15. Hello Ms. Maureen,
    I LOVED the idea of doing this kind of game we did with our buddies, I found this was very fun for the little guys. Once they got the right animal, my buddy was just so happy! I found it a lot of fun and so did the little buddies. I would really like to do a game like that again, I had a great time doing it.
    ~Brooklyn:)

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    1. Awesome Brooklyn that you both really enjoyed the activity. I think it was challenging and fun for the little ones to figure out the riddles. I think it was challenging for you and the other big buddies to think of four good clues for each animal. What activity do you think we could try next?

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  16. Hello Ms. Maureen,
    I saw all of the big buddies working well with the little buddies and reading the clue cards out to them and in helping them open up the eggs. In some of the pictures they where my class thinking of ideas to write on the clue cards and see what we will be writing about.
    By: Josh

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    1. Hi Josh, I enjoyed this activity because you, as the big buddy, was more involved with creating it. I hope we can do another activity like this.

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  17. Hi Maureen,
    I had a really fun time with my little buddy. I always really look forward to little buddies with you guys. My little buddy did really well and also had a good time looking at the animals and reading the clues. Can't wait till next time.
    ~Kassidy

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    1. I'm glad you and your little buddy enjoyed the activity. See you next time.

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  18. Hello Maureen,
    I really liked doing this activity because it was fun to make/also to read. I enjoyed watching all the little kids try to figure out what animal it is, I had 2 buddy's and they loved running to the next egg and opening the egg.
    Thank you
    ~Jack

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    1. Hi Jack, I think a favourite part of this activity, for the little buddies, was finding another egg and being able to move around.

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