Let's Do It Together

Today at the art table I set a book, paper, pencils and scissors.

The book is by Leo Lionni called "Let's Make Rabbits".

I like the idea in this book of two things making the same thing but in a different way.

The pencil draws a rabbit and the scissors cut out a rabbit.

It was a good art project for partnership.

It was a good project for talking about body parts.

It was a good project for scissor skills.

It was a good project.

A Bunny Snack

Everyday our program provides snack but at least once a week we make a special snack.  Either bake something or build something.  Today we built a Bunny Muffin.

Visual recipes are great for reading skills.  They learn to read the recipe by following the steps. In building their own snack they are learning about numbers and counting, shapes and placement of facial features.  When you start looking deeper into what they are learning with this simple activity it's quite amazing.  A few more are; knife skills, sharing with others at the table,  taking only what is needed.  I'm sure you could think of a few more still.

1.  Start with 1/2 of a half of english muffin.

2. We used regular cream cheese and we had strawberry cream cheese too.

3. Carrot coins would work great for eyes but we used cheerios.

4. A triangle nose. Lots of shapes to talk about when making this snack.

5. The slightly curly chow mien noodles made terrific whiskers.

6. Finally the ears.  We used cheese slices to make nice, long, floppy ears.

I printed the step by step pictures on to one sheet and left them on the table.
Not every step was followed by everyone and that's what choice is all about.

Balloon Painting Bunnies

Today we used balloons dipped in paint to make bunny art.

The balloon glides across the paper when it is covered with paint.  I really enjoyed that feeling.

Look how just moving the paint covered balloon makes it look like a bunny.  I see the nose and the ears.

Here's a bunny playing in the mud.

Multi-coloured bunny.

It's a fast hopping bunny!

Bunny friends.

Not all children were willing to pick up a balloon that was covered with paint.  Not so this little one.

The more paint the better.

 A friend suggested that I fill the balloons with different things.  The one the girl above is squeezing has sand in it.  Others had rice, water or air.

And she likes moving around when she works.  Notice the paint on the chair beside her?  Not a problem - it's washable paint.

Signs of the Week - Bunny and Funny

This week we will be focusing on bunnies.
To make the sign for 'bunny' hold up the same two fingers (index and middle) on both hands.
Place the right hand on top of the left.  Pointing fingers up.
Flick fingers of both hands up and down as if the bunny is moving his ears.

The verse we will say this week is "Here is a Bunny"

Here is a bunny with ears so funny
And here is a hole in the ground
At the first sound he hears
He perks up his ears
And hops in the hole in the ground.

Sign of the Week - Pizza

Last week we were reading the story The Little Red Hen Makes a Pizza and singing the song I Am A Pizza.
Here is how you sign 'pizza'.
Hold up two fingers on one hand (index and middle finger).  Bend fingers then draw a 'Z' in the air.  That represents the double 'z' in the word pizza.
This is one way to sign pizza.  There would be many variations depending on where you live.

I Am A Pizza

I am a pizza
With extra cheese
From tomatoes
Sauce is squeezed
Onions and mushrooms
Oregano
I am a pizza
Ready to go!

Fairy World

This week I set up an "invite to play" with fairies.

Garden fairies.
I found little ceramic flower fairies with dangly legs.

The dangly legs were fun as the children stood them up and wiggled them back and forth.  Although they were a bit tricky to sit down again.

 Even the older buddies enjoyed the play.

 This posted was shared in the Fairy Garden contest at
http://themagiconions.blogspot.ca/2012/04/fairy-garden-contest-2012.html

Busy Days

This week we are back at school after a one week Spring Break.
Usually after any holiday, when school is closed, families are very happy to get out of the house and come to StrongStart.  This week was no exception.
They came and they played.

Here's the room when we opened this morning.

Here it is mid morning.  Our grade 3 buddies also came to play.

Together we did ball-roll painting, super-sized.  Working together was exciting for big and little buddies.  The patience and awareness the older students are learning is heartwarming. 

And medium-sized ball-rolling. Many hands makes it easier.  Learning when and how to raise and lower the box was a learning experience for all.

We shared snack and played in the water table together.

Played and explored.

It was loud, noisy and a bit chaotic but it was so much fun.

What and who will tomorrow bring?