What Makes A Shadow

              
Groundhog Day, it’s not a holiday but it’s one of
those occasions to have fun with. 
It gives us an opportunity to talk about weather
and hibernation. 
But I like to focus on shadows at this time.
        
This morning when the children arrived and found their
picture to sign in they found this question;
“Can you see your shadow?”
  
Well of course they couldn’t because we were indoors. 
And knowing that our weather here, through the winter,
is often overcast and rainy I set up our own sun inside.

The children enjoyed turning the light on and off
figuring out how the switch and the light are
connected. 
Something we may focus on at another time. 
 
When the light was on we asked the question
and most older children could find their shadow
on the floor quite quickly. 

For some of the younger children we had to show them. 
It was often easier to make a hand shadow puppet to
demonstrate how the light created the shadow.
 
This little guy is figuring it out for himself.

Pets from Home

      
For the past couple of weeks families have been invited
to bring their pets in to play. 

 
 
          We've met several dogs and a cat.
    
      A guinea pig from the kindergarten class.
    
          And a beautiful corn snake.
    
We learned to ask first if we can pet a dog and how
to safely meet a new dog by making a fist with our
hand and letting it sniff it first.
 
We found toys for the cat to play with when it tried to escape
the classroom.
 
The children loved following the animals around the room,
in and under furniture.
 
The pets inspired conversations and stories about the children`s
experiences with animals.

And not just with the children. 
This dog helped make connections between parents.

A snake is an unusual pet for most of us and
they come with a negative reputation.
 
But the children modeled for all of us how to overcome
some fear and discomfort with the pet snake.
 
The family also brought the snake`s skin that it had recently shed. 
Wow look at the head, you can see the eyes too.

     
       Pets are calming, loving and teach us so much.

Vet Clinic – Pretend and Real

             
     Welcome to our StrongStart veterinary clinic.

 
Our children have shown a strong interest in animals so a vet clinic
was set up in our dramatic play  to let them explore the animals
further. 
 
The children practiced various methods of caring for the
animals.
       
Interviewing the owner and taking down important information
to help them decide what is wrong with the pet. 
Thanks to Let’s Go Fly a Kite for the inspiration for our
medical chart.
 
                            Inspecting each animal carefully.
 
Checking xrays and keeping them fed and watered.

After playing vet for several weeks we visited a real vet clinic
down the road from our school.

Dr. Joan showed us around the clinic.  The examination room
was small so we quickly went through it to the main room behind.
 
We saw where they do dental work and check blood through
a microscope.
    
They have medicine for the animals to take with them if needed.  

But our favourite room was the x ray room.
 
Dr. Joan explained how the x ray machine works and the importance
of wearing special clothing to take the pictures.
 
She let us try on the apron, collar, gloves and glasses to feel
the weight.

The children were pretty quiet up to this point.
 
But as she started to show us pictures the children began to guess
what kind of animal it may be and what was wrong with it. 
She also explained that these are old x rays and now they are
all done digitally through the computer.
      
The old x rays are so fun to look at – can you see all the
baby kittens in this one?

    
We moved on to surgery where Dr. Joan got dressed in her
surgical gear that keeps all her germs off her patient.  The
children asked how she cuts them open and she showed
them a scalpel and showed them the thread she uses to sew
them up again.

 
As we left Dr. Joan gifted each child with a hair net and mask so they
could do their own surgery.  Several parents reported back to me that
is exactly what their children did for the rest of the afternoon – play vet.
           
What would you add to a vet clinic dramatic play at your centre?
Thanks for playing along.