Star Light, Star Bright

While we were studying outer space I introduced the
overhead projector for the first time this school year.
            
A family lent me the blue mesh to hang over the area
and I used a frame from a pop up house to hold it away
                   from the wall.

The frame is just the right size for the children to go inside and open
              enough for a grown up to be involved.


A few things we used were constellation pictures and mesh stars.
     
Then I added coloured plexi-glass stars, coloured circles and
                   stir sticks with see through tops.


These two boys discovered that they could turn off the projection on
             the wall by lifting and closing the top flap.
 
They experimented with it and was able to move the light from the floor
                    and up the wall and back to off.
        
            And there was also interest in the mesh.

Build-a-House for Snack

         
We have been doing a lot of building lately, like our gingerbread creation and
                                 cardboard play house.
    
So we brought building to the snack table and had the children build a cracker
house.  We worked in shape identification by using triangle and rectangle crackers.
   
The children could use cream cheese if they desired.  There were mixed vegetables, dill pickles and shredded cheese available to use for windows, doors and snow.  The last picture shows cheese laying across the rectangle cracker.  When I asked the child to tell me about his house, he said the cheese were windows.  Ah like an apartment building.
               
We have been using this method of ‘reading’ a recipe for several months and the children show independence and confidence as they sit down to build their snack.

Sticky Bright Holiday Lights

     
This morning I mixed clear corn syrup and food colouring to
                     make paint for dipping.
              
The children dipped the back of the spoon into the sticky
         paint and then pressed it on to the paper.

     The paint is very sticky so it took two hands to make the
     prints.  One to press the spoon down then lift it up while
               the other hand held the paper down.

      
      This child made her lights into a colour pattern.
 
    This child started by drawing shapes and then filling them in. 
              It makes the lights pop off the page.

     
     
      
        A few samples of what the children created.

      
With the lights that were left at school I used to decorate our
                gingerbread play house.

Aliens Love Underpants

                          
This is such a fun and silly book.  Aliens don’t come down to earth to see us.  No they come to see our underpants.  There were giggles from young and old when I read this story.
                 
“Their spaceship’s radar bleeps and blinks the moment that it sees, a washing line of underpants all flapping in the breeze.”  With that line in mind I set up an invite for the children to design a pair of underpants and add to our clothesline.
           
                        
   The children became interested after we read the book a couple of times.
      
        I wonder if they were designed after their own underpants?
            
        And like the aliens some wanted to take some home.

I just learned that there are more book in this series by Claire Freedman and Ben Cort.  I can't wait to read "Pirates Love Underpants".

Racing to Christmas

That is what we called our gingerbread creation that we made for the
                Boys and Girls Club fundraiser.

      
After making gingerbread people with the little buddies, the big buddies
pieced the race track, bleachers, trees, flags and podium together.

         Then we put it altogether together.

         
 
      The big buddies finished it by covering it with candy.

      
This project was a great way of working together, learning and
   understanding what each age is capable of doing.

Gingerbread Dough Cut Outs

                             
Cruising around Pinterest one night I saw a felt gingerbread play set and
                                   was instantly inspired.
          I decided to make a family of gingerbread people with 3 sizes.

                                   
I sewed two sheets of brown felt together, traced my cookie cutters, sewed around them twice and cut out the shapes between the two lines of stitching. 

 
                    It’s part of our bakery dramatic play area. 
      The children can cut it out and bake it as often as they want.