Chinese New Year

We began our exploration in to Chinese New Year today. 
This is the provocation that greeted the children as they
entered the room.

Plenty of pretend tea to pour and share.


Our sign in wall holds the animals from the chinese zodiac.

The animal pictures I found at Activity Village.

The children chose the animal of their choice.

The grown ups checked the calendar above to learn
what animal represents the year their child was born.

Animal Tracks Compilation

Here is a glimpse into our study on animal tracks.
 
We began by looking at our own tracks. 
Their size, shape and features.

Our feet or hands were painted depending on the
comfort of the child.


We spent a morning at the beach looking for tracks and
making tracks in the sand.

 
And we used the same plastic track moulds from the beach to
paint tracks at the art table.

Tray Plays from January

A whole month has gone by and I haven’t posted any of our Play Trays. 
Here’s a blitz.
  
Match the coloured hat to the snowman with the same coloured scarf.
 
Build a snowman with foam circles, hats, and scarves.
Xs & Os game.
 
Using tweezers to pick up pom poms and drop them into a container.
 
Button search.  Find the buttons that are parts for a snowman.
 
Nesting dolls that are unfinished.
 
Cats and dogs and a balance scale.
 
Big fuzzy pipe cleaners and a strainer.
 
Hammer and golf tees in styrofoam.

Wee Folks Woods–the beginning

We have been busy with our big buddies planning
a second Fairy Lane.  This one will be called Wee Folks Woods
because there could be many different creatures living there.
It’s going to be situated in the woods behind our school
so we can make frequent visits.

 
         Two weeks ago we met to plan our doors.
 
The door planning session also include talking of who the door would be for.
There were fairies, trolls, gnomes, witches, flying pigs, ogres and more mentioned.
  
Today was clay day.  Our big buddies used the drawings to prepare
the shape of the doors before we arrived.
 
Working together to finish the designs with details of stones, wood,
doorknobs, bricks, hinges and windows.
We learned the proper technique to attach bits of clay to the main door.
 
    

 
By the end of our session the doors are ready to sit at room temperature
before they are fired in the kiln.