Ambulance Visit

            StrongStart was very exciting this morning!

A paramedic named Jason brought an ambulance to the school so we could
climb inside and look around.
  
We stayed busy playing while we waited and when it arrived we couldn't wait
to get outside and see it.
          
                     We took turns looking inside.
     
Entering through the side door we saw the big stretcher and lots of
cupboards with glass doors. 
   
The glass doors made it easy to see the bandages and materials the
paramedics use to help people.
 
Jason invited us to sit on the long bench and tell him about any
experiences we have had in ambulances. 
      
              Luckily there were very few.
        
One family told us their story about when their grandmother went in an
ambulance to the hospital.  Before she left, the paramedics gave the children
teddy bears and it helped them feel more positive about the experience.
      
We climbed out and said thank you to Jason for coming all the way
to our school.
      
        Before he left he turned on the lights and the siren.
                               It was awesome!

How Do You Plan for a Very Busy Day?

           
StrongStart is a drop in program.  There is no pre-registration. 
There is no commitment to come on certain days at certain times. 
Families can come and go as it fits into their schedule. 
Our district has maintained an open door, no cap, policy.

Now as the weather becomes colder and wetter, more and more families are coming indoors. 
My attendance has been growing each week. 
How high? Let me just say that it becomes ‘very’ busy. 
I have a big room that some days doesn’t feel big enough.

The question I get most often from other facilitators, who are also facing high attendance, is...
"How do you plan for the numbers?”. 
I set up the areas of play so they are open to all and the children are encouraged to play and explore.  I watch and learn how I can change, improve or plan for the next visit.

But most of the time the question is referring to the art (craft) table.
My answer is that I try to keep it open ended and follow the rule of thumb that if it takes me longer to prep then a child to make it, it's not worth doing.

Today's art activity was perfect for the 46 children that attended.
             
             Cars, ramps, paint and room to move.
 
Offering opportunity to experiment and play with a favourite toy in paint.
  
 
 
Children came and went, playing, enjoying, sharing.
             
                             Investigating.
This type of activity gives me the time to watch and enjoy
but also to move around the rest of the room freely.

Ginger Kids Have Been Spotted

We have been wondering how our Ginger Kids have been doing on their
adventure. 
We have been waiting to hear any news.
          
 A mail box in the school office in case messages were sent.

Maps of Comox Valley, Vancouver Island and British Columbia
have been posted so we can track where the Ginger Kids have ventured.
                
So far we have received several notes and post cards from friends
who have seen evidence
of the ginger kids visiting their classrooms or community.
        
 
        
The messages vary from small handmade postcards, to purchased post cards,
to photos of children with a ginger kids cut out.

Keep watching and send us your messages because we love mail and learning
more about the world around us.
Thank you for participating.  

Send to:
                                   Brooklyn StrongStart
                                   1290 Guthrie Rd.,
                                   Comox, British Columbia
                                   V9M 4G2
                                   CANADA

Push Car Art

This is how we combined cars and markers to make art.
I saw this idea over at First Palette.
Loved it.
    
The table was  completely covered with paper.
From our block area I borrowed the push and pull vehicles. 
Left them on the table with markers and masking tape. 
 
The children didn’t even bother to wait to pull out a chair. 
Although this morning I had hesitated about putting chairs around the table.  For this type of activity I prefer for the children to have a full range of motion.  Being able to move around the table allows them to use their whole body.  It looks like they felt the same.
            
 
The marks on the paper showed their movements – some short pushes,
some very long pulls, others zigzagged and some spirals.
     
Then there was the two handed drawing.
 
Or crashing, tipping over, needing a tow truck to help start drawing again.
        
Didn’t even matter if it marked the paper. 
There was interest in how the combination of toy and marker worked together. 
Happy times. 
Art and mechanics together.

Fairy Lane News is Spreading

Many families have come back to StrongStart to tell me about their adventures into the woods to find the fairy doors. 
It’s very exciting to hear that even in our rainy climate families are venturing outside and encouraging their children's imaginations.



It was even more exciting when I heard that our fairy lane was featured in our local newspaper this past Friday.  

This came about after talking to my oldest daughter about Fairy Lane.       
              
                         
We were reminiscing about our family’s first adventure to the west coast of Canada.
                          
How we got into telling stories and looking for trolls in the awesome forests in Tofino and Cathedral Grove.  So thanks to my oldest daughter who sent the press release to the paper and to all my daughters for continuing to encourage me.  They are and always will be my inspiration.

I’m looking forward to being back at school this week and hearing if more families went on a fairy door hunt.

Coloured Pom Pom Drop

Look at this great idea I found over at Learning 4 Kids.
As soon as I saw it I knew we would have to try it.

Interesting though that the first day is what set up no one was interested.
No one played with it.  Hmmm, I thought it would be a hit.  Maybe the tubes were too long.  Maybe there isn’t enough room between the table and the divider that the tubes were on.  Maybe I was just expecting too much.
 
Maybe there was just other things more interesting that day because
the second day it was a busy spot.
 
It was interesting to watch the way they approached this activity.
Picking up one pom pom and dropping it in any tube, regardless of the colour. 
Then picking up several, some in each hand, and being more selective with the tubes they chose.
Then big handfuls trying to be stuffed into one tube.
 
The more it was used you could start seeing the pom poms being
sorted by colour down in the tray.
        
A pom pom drop is a fun, inexpensive, easy to set up toy for children to explore.