Scales

The families were invited to experiment with scales.

We asked them, "What happens when you put an animal on one side?"

How many do we need to put on the other side to make the scale balanced?

It took some calculation, some experimenting, some trial and error.

We learned that not all the animals weighed the same.

Even if they were the same size.

Runaway Gingerbread

Several years ago we pretended that our gingerbread cookie ran away

and asked friends and family from around the world to send us 

post cards of what the cookie might see and do

if they visited them.

It was a huge success.

It was so exciting to receive postcards from all over.

This year we are doing it again.

It started last Thursday when I invited James, a baker from a local grocery store,

to come in and make gingerbread cookies with us.

He was great with showing the children how to separate an egg,

introducing them to molasses,

and demonstrating how to roll out and cut the gingerbread boy and girl.

Into the oven the cookies went.

Mmm they started to smell good.

While the gingerbread cookies were baking our big buddies visited for story.

Ms Smith, their teacher, read the story of The Gingerbread Man.

Just as she finished the story James yelled from the kitchen,

"oh no, stop stop"

The gingerbread cookies had jumped out of the oven when

he was checking on them.

They ran out into the hallway crumbling a little as they went.

The buddies went out to investigate and saw the trail of crumbs.

They followed it all the way to the door heading outside.

There was note that the big buddies read to the little buddies.

Run, run as fast you can,

I'm off to see as much of the world as I can!

We were standing in the school foyer wondering what we were going to do.

Should we go outside and try to find them?

Maybe they were on the roof.

Then one of our big buddies suggested we make 'Wanted' posters

to put up so others might help.

They got to work creating posters.

Sharing ideas of how to describe the cookies and what should

be a reward.

Posters are made and ready to go up around the school.

Can you help?

Send us a post card from where you live or are traveling,

telling a little story of what the gingerbread cookie might see or do.

Mail it to:

Brooklyn StrongStart

1290 Guthrie Rd.,

Comox, British Columbia

V9M 4G2

We look forward to checking our mail box.

Sharing Our Table Art

This week I hung our table art on the hallway bulletin board 

and shared our process in making it.

Just after I put it up our principal came and asked me about it.

I explained how we made it and she said that she found it very calming.

Next I spotted her back with our 

school secretary checking it out.

In our staff room, at lunch, a few teachers commented on our art.

One teacher said her class thought it looked like a puddle.

That inspired me to put this question up to see what others

thought it might be called.

The next day I saw some families looking and touching.

So I asked them to title it too.

Here are a few of the names it has been given already.

Light in Our Dark Space

 

We added the overhead projector in to our dark space this week.

Play, colour exploration and noticing shadows.

Tucked inside our dark space children are having fun.

Seeing things in a different way.

Playing with Pom Poms

Another simple toy that the children have been enjoying is a tray of pom poms,

tubes taped together and a melon scoop.

The pom poms become jammed in the tubes and a bonus element

is for the children to try to figure how to get them out.

Shaking works really well and is fun.

Using the melon scoop to scoop up the pom poms is a novel experience

for most of the children.

 Figuring out how to hold it is a first step.

Then how to get a pom pom in it before transferring to the tube.

Even without using the scoop this activity is a high interest

to toddlers.