Bunnies Galore

What a fun week full of bunny crafts and games.

Yesterday we made bunny ears to wear.

Added cottontails for fun.

We wore them all morning.

Hop like a bunny, hop, hop,hop.

Bunny ears can be made with rhythm sticks too.

Today we painted bunny pictures using sponges and cookie cutters.

The bunnies are hopping over the grass.

The bunnies are hiding in the grass.

A few games that I've found at dollar stores were a lot of fun, especially the hopping bunnies and eggs.

It was great for problem solving, figuring out how to get the spring to stay down.

Then waiting and waiting for them to pop.

But the giggles and squeals of delight were the best part.

Baskets were available to catch the bunnies once they popped.

Stacking bunnies games.  Roll the die and try to pull out the matching coloured bunny without knocking over the tower.                                                    Bunny finger puppets with little chick friends were fun to sort and put on our fingers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Playfully Learning

The topic of play-based learning is causing great discussion in our school district.
And a colleague of mine told me about an article she read (sorry I don't have a link to it) that helped her understand it better.  The author referred to play-based learning as playfully learning, where the teachers sets out materials to invite children to explore and play and child directed play where the child uses those materials for his own ideas.

The following is what I observed at our centre one morning this week.

My husband modified an old wooden kitchen table for me so we can use it for a sensory/sorting table.  

This week I filled the two tubs with coloured plastic eggs and set coloured baskets in the middle.

At first the children were just interested in opening all the eggs.

Once the eggs were all emptied the children continued to play, a bit of sorting and then the idea to have an egg hunt.  Where would they hide them?  Would we be finding eggs for weeks?  Just today I found a little frying pan that went missing at the beginning of March (it was tucked into the art shelf).

I needn't of worried because as fast they hid them they pulled them out again.

But then the play changed focus and one of the little boys went over to our sensory table where he remembered seeing egg cups.  I gave him some extra ones and  followed him back into the second room.

 He went to the play kitchen.  His mom tells me that he wants to boil the eggs.

So she guides him through the steps.  Fill the pot with water.  Put it on the stove.  Make some toast. Set the table.

 Look how he cracks  the egg open, I think he has done this before.

I appreciated the change that took place from playfully sorting and opening of the eggs to more real life, self-directed, "let me do what I want with the eggs" play.

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!