Buddy Games

This week we went outside with our big buddies.  We have two playgrounds at our school so split the group in half and set up a game at each playground.
          
At the front playground we played “Find Me”.  The buddies had a small snapshot picture clue of part of the play structure. 
 
By looking at the snapshot they had to search the playground to find it.
 
          Then they could open their folder and see if they were right.

After they finished playing the game they could go and play on the equipment.

           
At the back playground we hid plastic ABC letters so the buddies had to find
them together.

They had to climb through, up and down the equipment to find all the letters.
       
                
Then take them over to the pavement where the alphabet was written.  Together they matched the letters.  Then ran back to find another one.

  
Together the children learned more about each other.  They took risks and showed each other what they are capable of doing.
        
                  
They showed interest by being there in the moment and being aware of each other.  They showed trust, like when the little buddy raised her hands to her big buddy to be picked up.
                    
               Most importantly – they enjoyed each others company.

Emergency Vehicle–Ambulance

Another exciting morning when an ambulance came to visit.
Jason, the paramedic, brought in his Jump Pack to show us some equipment.
  
We learned that there are two sizes of blood pressure cuffs; one that was too big was for the grown-ups, the other was the perfect size for children.
  
We saw a tool he uses to see how fast a person’s heart is beating.  It clips on your thumb but doesn’t hurt.
  
        
Then it was time to checkout the ambulance.  There is a lot of equipment in that small space.  Jason asked if anyone has had an ambulance visit their house.  There were a few stories but mostly from the grown ups.

We made comparisons between all the vehicles we have seen so far.  The ambulance, police car and tow truck all have flashing lights.  The drivers part,
in all three, had lots of switches and buttons.
            
       But the most fun was pushing the button to turn on the siren.

Spuds in Tubs 2015

               
Our Spuds in Tubs kit arrived last week from BC Agriculture in the Classroom Foundation.
             
                Today we had our first look at the seed potatoes.
                               
We noticed that some have sprouts growing already. They are not quite long
                                      enough to plant yet.
                   
          We learned that these potatoes are now seeds to grow more.
                            
                    We counted the potatoes into groups of 10.
                
We have 25 seed potatoes and we will plant them into 5 tubs.  We are going to share this project with two other classes in our school.  Then we can compare how they are growing and celebrate the harvest together.

Ring Toss

The last time I visited IKEA I asked if I could take some of the cardboard
rings that they use to hold their glassware apart. 
                 
At school, I left them in a big bowl in the block area but the children haven’t used them.  Then one day I was shopping at a local thrift store and I found an old paper towel holder, it looked like a perfect target for the rings.
              
The children tried to toss the ring on to the target but found it difficult. 
Some didn’t give up but perservered till they got one or two on.
 
For the younger children they practiced the skill by placing the ring on and off the target.  This little one showed such concentration and when he was done he picked up the target and proudly showed it to me.
               
   I also saw another practicing his counting after filling up the target.
Tomorrow I'm going to turn a chair upside down and use the four legs as targets.

They Might be Magic Beans

       A week ago Friday when we attended the Young Farmers Exhibit 

 we planted beans. 

   

We took care of them all week and was amazed how quickly they sprouted.

  

By Thursday all of them had poked out of the soil and were starting to reaching

        for the sun shining in the window.

       

I thought that this would be a great opportunity to introduce the story of 

Jack and the Beanstalk.  After reading the story together, we coloured pictures 

of castles, attached them to sticks and stuck them beside the beans.

                  

Notice the one on the left?  

It’s already starting to wind around the stick.  

I wonder how tall it will be on Monday!