New Play Toys in the House Area

This is really two posts in one.  The first part is about the changes I've made in our house dramatic play area, the second is about a new toy for that same area. 

This year I decided to remove the plastic food and dishes from the house play area.   I found that some children were distracted by the colours, red for girls – blue for boys, and that they were only used one particular way.

Now for dishes, the children have wicker hotpads, wooden plates, bowls and utensils and shells from the beach.  We kept the metal pots and pans.

I’ve kept the wooden and felt food plus we are using more materials from the art area. The children have discovered that yarn works great for spaghetti, noodles or rice and that pom poms can become any type of food (plus they work really well in the spoons for serving and squeeze into the pots easily).

Play dough is always available as well.
  

So when I saw felted acorns on Playful Learning website I loved them and thought they would fit in to our play.  Then one of our families brought in a baggie of acorn tops and I knew I had to get busy creating. 
         
They are not difficult to make.  It took a little patience to get the wool into a small ball shape but after that it took just minutes to finish.  I tried to use white glue to attach the tops to the felting, as she suggested, but it was very easy to pull them apart so I switched to a hot glue gun.
          
I made two of each colour and placed them in our house play area.
          
 
The children were instantly attracted to them and began to serve them from dish to dish.  Carefully with the spoons or dumping them from the shells.
               
Today I watched as this little girl noticed, while serving them in the dishes for everyone at the table, that some of the colours matched.
         

She used the muffin tin to separate them by colour.  Even sorting them together by shades of the same colour.  She has all the greens in the same cup when she ran out of space.  Now colours are a learning experience instead of a gender identifier.
     
As she was sorting, her grandpa talked to her about the chestnuts they found at the park the day before.  What they looked like and how they felt.  He talked about the top part of the acorns as being real and I shared how I made them.

What I’ve noticed, and communicate to families, with our new food and dishes at the house area, is that we don’t need to buy toys for the children.  When using materials that you find around your house or out in nature takes them back to authentic play.  Allowing the children and their imaginations to decide what each item is to be used for. 

Plus we can use these items in other play areas too; in the sand table or at the art table.  Each day can be a new discovery.

I’ve only had one family ask about the plastic dishes.  I explained my reasons for changing and it started a short discussion about the benefits.  It has been a very positive experience.

Pumpkin Donuts

Today we baked donuts.  Pumpkin donuts using my donut baker.

 
        
After mixing all the ingredients I brought out the donut machine and showed an easy way to pipe the batter into the pan.  Use a ziplock bag and snip one of the corners then squeeze it out.
      
We wondered how many donuts could be cooked in this machine.

So we counted as I filled each spot.  7 donuts are baked at once.
                 
     It bakes them fairly fast, 6 minutes in total.
    
  We were all ready to give a pumpkin donut a try.
  
        The majority really enjoyed them. 
     I found the recipe at Blue Eyed Bakers.

Pumpkin Patch Storytime

Each year we make a trip to the pumpkin patch. 
 
We have a couple of farms that host tours but we have always
gone to Shamrock Farms.

Shannon, the owner, loves Hallowe’en about as much as I do. 
She decorates the barn inside and out and she shares her knowledge
of the many varieties of pumpkins with us.

She lets us feed her chickens and goats, which is almost more
exciting for the children than picking a pumpkin.

     
The farm also has space for us to set up an area for snacks and
stories.  This year I decided to act out the story “Room on the Broom”. 
Here in the picture I’m quickly giving instructions to the grown-ups
whom just volunteered to take part.

I premade the headbands at school.  I found the images at
Making Learning Fun.
 
One parent volunteered to read the story, she stood behind the
children, the actors (parents and grandparents) just had to act it out. 
It was a lot of fun and I’m very thankful and impressed when the
grown ups volunteer not fully aware of what will happen.
           
Hope you enjoy the video.

Last Autumn Tree Art

We created two more autumn trees at the art table this week.
   
        Jigsaw puzzle leaf trees and yarn leaf trees.
 
Jigsaw puzzle leaf trees were started by painting a trunk, adding glue,
           then adding the puzzle pieces.
 
Finishing by painting the puzzle pieces on the tree, on the ground
                      and in the air. 
         

We recylced empty toothpaste sample boxes for the trunks of
                          our yarn trees.
   
  They painted the box, added glue then topped it off with
                                   yarn.
      
The extra leaves curled on the paper under the trees is a
                             nice effect.

Leaf Hunt

This week we walked in to our forest to look for four
          specific leaves.
     
This is our fourth week walking down the same path. 
      Each time we have a different goal. 
           
Each time I notice more children are taking the lead
            in the adventure.

Checking their findings as the grown ups are there for support.

       And sharing the experience together.
        
We are very fortunate to have this lovely woods just
        out the back door of our school.

Bark, George – A Story for Retelling

One of my favourite stories to share, at the moment, is by Jules Feiffer called Bark, George.
              
It’s a very simple story and the illustrations in the book are wonderful for showing the mother's feelings. 

Last year I read the book and told the story as a felt story.  You can find the pictures at Making Learning Fun.
                      

But last month, at our Storytellers group, one of our members shared the story by telling it with stuffies. 
                   
After our members left I remembered that a parent had given me a dog stuffie, which had a mouth/stomach that you could put things in.  I found it and quickly found some small animal stuffies.  I decided it wouldn’t matter which animals I used so they could be different that in the book.

Then I told the story.  This video shows the first time I did. 
What I've learned from watching my video...
1) I needed to have George more interactive rather than just sitting on my lap.  I've improved on that.  I move his head more when talking to him or when he makes each sound. 
2) I'm more aware of how it looks from the audience's perspective.  And because of that I'm gentler when I'm sticking my hand down George's throat.
3) I've also added a rubber glove that the vet wears.

                                
What I've enjoyed about this story is that the children enjoy retelling it.  The video above shows a three year old telling her version of the story. 

 Each time I tell this story, and I've told it many times in the past few weeks, the children giggle and are very engaged.  I've even changed the animals to a horse, cow and lamb to keep them guessing.