Five Green Frogs

As we were studying frogs and watching our tadpoles grow we
played with the old rhyme “Five Green and Speckled Frogs”.
     
At the flannel board the children could retell the rhyme and
move the frogs on and off the log.
     
   
We played with the rhyme on the carpet using stuffies and a piece of driftwood.
          
         We played with the rhyme at the water table.
    
On one side held 5 little frogs on a log and the other side held rubbery frogs
with 'plastercine-made' tadpoles and water beads.
      
   The frogs hopped on and off the logs and rocks,
        that were added on the second day.

We pretended the water beads were the frog eggs.  The clear beads are hard
to see in the water so the children were surprised when they reach into the
water and felt the beads.

The Legend of the Golden Snail

                 
"The Legend of the Golden Snail" by Graeme Base is a book I read when we are studying snails and pirates.  It is about imagination, challenges, helping others, adventure and more.
                  
 
Graeme’s illustrations pop off of each page in beautiful deep colours.

But what I really like about the book is that it contains a book within a book.  When you open the cover you will find a miniature version of the bedtime story that the main character is read and that begins his adventure.
   
I found a real shell that matches the one that Wilbur, the main character and his cat, eventually find.  I painted it gold and will use it as a conversation prompt when we read the book in September for "Talk Like a Pirate Day”.

Magnets at the Easel

Have you visited Deborah Stewart’s blog Teach Preschool? 
        I follow it faithfully.  
She is very creative and is constantly thinking of new ways
to provide activities for the children in her care.

One activity that caught my eye was her magnetic easel
          and handiness with a glue gun.
 
My easels are wooden so, on them, I placed a metal bulletin board,
             from IKEA.  
Then I glued magnets to the back of milk jug caps and green tongue depressors.

The colour and shape of the milk jug lids lend themselves to building flowers.  
         Single or in a bouquet, they look beautiful.

What other ways have you used your easels?

Pro D Day

At the end of May school districts around the province hosted professional development day for StrongStart facilitators and Early Years Coordinators.  Our school district hosted for the North Island.   It was a positive and enjoyable opportunity to get together and share what’s been happening at our centres.

Each district brought display boards which gave us a glimpse into what has
been happening in their programs.

Some districts brought sensory bins or activity kits

that they have to put together to share at each of their district centres.

             
           Some brought their inviting literacy kits.
     

We had opportunity to talk about certain topics such as;
"What is a vulnerable family?"
"How do we connect with families in need and encourage them to participate at a StrongStart centre?"
 and
"In what ways are we ensuring that programs are welcoming and accessible?"
    
We also spent time discussing the Ministry of Educations program reflection
tool called Reflecting on Quality.   It is a self reflective tool for each of us to use to really think about our program, our centre.  Is it meeting the needs of the families that attend our centres?  Does it meet the goals of the Early Learning Framework?

     
In between discussions we got up, sang songs, played with scarves,
had fun and got to know each other better. 
It is just as important for us to play as it is for children to play.

Bubbles – so simple and so fun

One of the easiest ways to play with your children this summer
is to bring out the bubbles.
   
There are the traditional wands to use and with a good bubble solution
you can create a lot of bubbles and keep the kids busy for a long time.
        
At our Teddy Bear Picnic, last month, I brought a few new bubble blowers.
             
Nemo blows his own bubbles.  Although my policy is to avoid toys
that require batteries when I saw this little fish blowing bubbles
independently I couldn’t resist.
   
The children were fascinated with how it works.  Watching the
wand dip into the pool of bubble solution then raise to his mouth.
  
Then trying to catch and burst his bubbles.
 
Another bubble blower I brought was a bubble gun but I preferred to
call it a ‘bubble storm maker’.
       
It makes so many bubbles at once that they were floating around the whole garden.


Check out 100 Days of Play