Snap Blocks

                    
A few months ago I shared the snap blocks I had made with a fellow StrongStart facilitator.  I finally had a chance to put them out for the children to play.

Once they figured out how they went together they started to build.

The fact that the blocks spin once they are together was a lot of fun.

Enjoyed watching these two working side by side then smoothly start working together.

What Do We Do With This?

                      
    I set this table last week and the question I heard most often was
                           “What do we do with this?”
              
                                       My answer – ”explore”. 
    

                      And that’s what the children and adults did.
   

They sometimes worked with the marks I had drawn on the paper that
                                         covered the table.
They followed the lines.
         
        They matched the coloured lights and worked between the lines.
            
Some children worked together to see what they could create with the materials.
Can you guess the pattern?

     
The lights drew the most interest with adults and children.  The children liked that they could turn the lights on and off themselves. 
Tomorrow when they arrive at school they’ll find the table has changed but the focus will still be on lights.

A Rubber Ramp

Our school district resource centre has purchased several new ramp kits. 
I’ve reserved one a month for the next few months. 
        
The first kit we borrowed is a rubber ramp.  The children and parents love it.  It looks like recycled materials which is pleasing for parents and I believe is giving a few the idea to try to make their own.
               
This kit has a really long rubber piece that stretches across our room. 
Because it’s so long we needed to curve it back on itself.
              
The first day the adults started by stretching the rubber out and adding some of the tunnels/supports.  But the children soon took over and tested and changed the design.
      
     Each day after the children tried variations of hills and tunnels. 

This is a very active activity with the children running back and forth to get
their ball and let it go again.
       
                  
This ramp kit has been so exciting to have in our program.  It encourages the children to think of design, hills, slopes, tunnels, and speed of the ball.

          Everyone who tried it was very excited to watch the ball go.
                     
The only thing I wished is that the rubber ramp came in two pieces that weren’t so long.  We took it into the gym one day and was able to stretch right out.  Other than that it is a wonderful piece of equipment for all ages.

Our district purchased it from Kodo, a website worth looking at for other inspirations.

Reindeer Toast

           
This week’s Make-a-snack was Reindeer Toast. I prepared the toast this time since each child would just use a quarter of one piece.
              
      
             
We learned the word 'antler' when we added the pretzels.  And we talked about the raisin eyes and that it was difficult to see them on the toast so some children chose to use Cheerios instead.
             
The cherry nose prompted many children and their parents to call the toast Rudolph and talk about that story.
      
                                     Our photo recipe.

Frosted Window Art

                
It snowed a bit last week which was exciting but it didn’t last long.  I saw this art idea at Kinder Kraze and thought it would help make our room a little more like winter.
           
The table was set up for a couple of days so we could create lots of windows
to decorate our windows.
   
        A snowflake shaped hole punch was used to make the snowflakes.
       
It’s very simple to make, spread glue on to waxed paper, place tissue paper and snowflakes on top then spread more glue over everything.  I diluted the glue with water so the waxed paper wouldn’t curl when it dries.
  

Our decorated windows…
          
                         from the inside,
          
                                                    and the outside.