little preschool on the prairie

loose parts~ metal & magnets

2012-02-06T20:13:00.000-06:00

Today I thought I would introduce the children to magnets. At first, as will all new materials, the children played the magnets themselves sticking them to the metal cans and stacking them. When they were content with their initial explorations, they branched out and began adding metal items from our recyclable collection to the magnets creating layered effects.

As they worked with the materials, they named their creations 'robot' or 'spaceship' and began telling stories while they worked.

Some children figured out how to get objects to stand up...

and another used horizontal space.

The end!

designing with loose parts

2012-02-04T08:34:00.000-06:00

A few days ago the children were building roads on which to drive their cars. At the end of the road they built skyscrapers. When their interest seemed to decline I offered some florist gems and rocks to decorate their skyscrapers. We began by placing gems on the buildings, but then decided to add to the ground around the buildings.

Finally we ended up making green grass, white sidewalks and a blue river. This activity I heavily scaffolded by using the white rocks to create an outline for the river. I hope to continue to scaffold these types of activities until the children are able to create them on their own.

sidewalk paint

2011-10-07T14:32:00.000-05:00

We mixed equal parts corn starch and water to create this paint. The children helped stir in food coloring to make the paint come alive.

We took advantage of the gorgeous weather and painted the sidewalk:

The result was a beautiful mess of what the children called butterflies, rainbows, houses and letters. I love how the cornstarch gives the paint a smooth texture when it dries.

The end!

sorting bottle caps

2011-10-07T14:13:00.000-05:00

We have TONS of bottle caps thanks to our cook and donations from parents. Since we were running out of places to store them I figured it was time for a sorting activity. I set out different colored paper onto which the children could match the caps. That was all that was needed as the children intuitively 'got' the intended invitation.

The children pointed out that I was missing a few colors so I added black, tan and purple paper as well...

There were only a few 'tricky' colors that did not quite match (like a cap that was an orangish-yellow). But they indeed drove us all nuts because they didn't quite fit in either category.

The end!

Paint rollers and deck shade

2011-09-23T13:04:00.000-05:00

My parents were getting rid of one of their broken, faux bamboo deck shades and offered it to me before throwing it out. Of course I took it and squirreled it away in our recycle room. It HUGE and it made a great canvas for using our paint rollers. I set it up in our atrium which is a great place to do large, messy work.
So far we've painted it blue, yellow (which turned it green) and red. I figure we will just keep painting it different colors until the children lose interest or come up with a different plan.

I know when adults walk by and let out excited squeals it's a good activity. Anything that brings out a grown-ups an inner child is A-OK with me!

Post-it note patterns

2011-09-23T12:54:00.000-05:00

This idea came from the Bakers and Astronaut Reggio-inspired blog. I started the children off with an AB pattern and encouraged them to continue it. It began left to right but the children gravitated to a vertical flow because it was easier for them to understand that yellow goes under blue and blue goes under yellow.

Once they understood that, the post it notes flew!

They filled the bottom half of the door:

Since they ran out of space on this door we moved to the other door and I offered the children their choice of colors:

Three colors was much more challenging, and they worked together to correct mistakes noticing when the pattern was off.

Hopefully they will get the concepts of patterns soon and I can stand back and let them design their own creations out of color and shape.

3D Robots

2011-09-21T15:25:00.000-05:00

A little while ago H expressed his interest in robots. Today I asked him if he would like to create another robot using recyclable materials. Indeed he did. We worked with wood glue and duct tape to create this masterpiece:

After he drew a representation in his journal and told me about it:

"It has a weapon. It can go to a planet."

While H was creating his robot M decided to make one too:
Journal:

M had this to say:

First the white thing's under the robot. Then the arms are over here so he can wave. The circles are so in case the robot falls. And he can talk a lot and he has a helmet too. And then it has two eyes. And there is the part of his body. And that's his neck. And this is his head and this is his chin. And that's all.

C wanted to create a robot too, but she chose to add objects to paper, perhaps because she created her journal first, then created her robot or because we glued to paper previously:

C said hers was a robot girl with hair and buttons.

The end!

a store for monster food- a construction & journal

2011-09-19T15:21:00.001-05:00

This summer our campus has been under a lot of construction. One day on the way into work I saw some electricians sitting on empty spools of wire. I convinced my coworker Taryn to ask them if they were going to throw them away and if we could please have them if so (I'm too chicken to talk to strangers- I desperately want to ask the laborers for some tidbits as well but I'm too scared!).

Anyway, the next day the following showed up on our doorstep:

Recently we added them to our atrium. The children stacked them and added empty raisin, cottage cheese and other empty containers to the ledges. This is the result:

T had this to say about her structure:

Mine is big. A monster built it for another monster. It's a store for monster food. It costs 60 or 70 or 80 dollars. Monsters like to eat bugs. Monster bugs.

C said this is what the monsters look like:

To be continued!

Magnets, metal & black beans?

2011-09-13T14:45:00.000-05:00

This week our sensory table features black beans. I love the black color of the beans and how they make the colors of the other objects inside pop. After an initial period of just exploring the beans with spoons and bowls, I decided to change out the pouring materials for some metal and non metal objects.

I added metallic materials like washers, clips, screws and other miscellaneous objects. Also added were nonmetallic items like plastic and wood.

As the children played we discussed what kinds of materials stuck to the magnets. The metal did, the plastic and wood did not.

The end!

colored rice on contact paper

2011-09-13T14:41:00.000-05:00

The other day the children colored some plain rice. Today we sprinkled some on contact paper.

Unfortunately, I left the role of contact paper near the sink and it of course got wet so it wasn't very sticky. But we had a good time, regardless.

The children really had to resist the impulse to dump the entire bowl onto the contact paper. (Here is an article from the Illinois Early Learning Project on the importance of teaching young children impulse control, a life-long needed skill (http://illinoisearlylearning.org/tipsheets/impulsecontrol.htm ).

They were instructed to pinch the rice ( a strong pinch grip- also needed for holding a pen or pencil) and sprinkle it over the paper.

It's just too bad the paper wasn't sticky or we could have hung this in the window:

The end!

In the block area today

2011-09-13T13:48:00.000-05:00

The children made some thoughtful structures today and I just had to share.

One child made a ramp using a piece of gutter and a card board tube. He said, "The ball goes on the top of the ramp. Then it rolls down through the tube.

Another child used blocks to create a channel. Then he lined up several balls in a row and used a cylinder to hit the balls down the channel. He said, "The balls go over there."

Marvelous, children!

pattern matching on the light table

2011-09-09T12:36:00.000-05:00

Many children come into my program not knowing what a pattern is or how to create one out of loose materials. I noticed that after a few days of being offered a tray of glass florist gems, starfish, and sea glass the children worked really hard manipulating the items but without a real sense of purpose.

Since I can't be in every area all the time (I wish I could clone myself) I decided the activity could use a little structure. My solution was to trace a few starfish and gems into a simple pattern on a piece of transparency paper and leave it on the table for the children to work with.

I wish I could have been there to document the finished pattern, but alas, it is what it is.

storytelling with three dimensional illustrations

2011-09-09T12:26:00.000-05:00

For this activity, I asked the children to begin by drawing a picture with a black marker.

We looked at their drawings and discussed the shapes they made. Then we checked our "Beautiful Stuff" collection for objects that were similar in shape and glued them on poster board remnants (another shout out to my coworker Heather and her dad who procured these superbly sturdy cast offs from his work).

Meanwhile, I asked them to tell me a story about their drawing. I purposefully asked them to tell me a story at the end instead of first because sometimes the children find it difficult to illustrate their ideas after the story because the image in their minds is so complex they shut down. I feel I will have plenty of time to challenge them again later.

Here are several examples of the children's work:

V's illustration and story:

"It's a house. Claire lives there, in Manteno. It's my cousin. Claire's my best friend and she plays with me the most."

H's illustration and story:

"It's a robot monster. Once the monster was going to blast off into space. Then the monster took a girl that was in space and took her to jail."
-
Some new children to the program did not grasp many of the concepts I was asking them for but they worked diligently and described their picture to me, which is fine, too

T's work and description:

"Mine had a flower on it and buttons on it."

C's work and description:

"I'm making a beach party. I decorate it."

E's work and description:

"My Mommy."

The end!

"Can I put a lot of color in this?" -Coloring rice

2011-09-06T15:16:00.000-05:00

We were fortunate enough to be able to order a huge sack of rice for the center so I added some to the sensory table. For the first two weeks of class the children poured and stirred. Today, though I thought it was time to jazz it up a little bit by adding some color.

To begin, I set a bunch of bowls on the table each with a corresponding color. The children added rice and water color as they saw fit and stirred and stirred.

The more color they added the deeper and richer the color got.

Who could blame them for wanting to add the whole bottle? I did have them stop when the color started to puddle because I want the rice to dry so I can put it back in the table or use it for another project.

Honestly, I've never met a child who didn't love to make something colorful. They are so enthralled by the instantaneous effects of swirling around some paint. The action is soothing and the results are always interesting. Some children even chose to view the colors through a magnifying glass:

After we colored the rice the children begged to mix the rice, so we did that next.

I can't wait to use this rice in some collage work.

The end!

Crayon and blow dryer experiemnt

2011-09-06T14:28:00.000-05:00

I learned about this project from my colleague Heather who said she saw it on Lisa Murphy's (the Ooey Gooey Lady) Facebook page. Heather had the children's product hanging in the hallway and several of us teachers and staff were standing around it and admiring the beautiful result. I had to try this in our room too!

I decided before hand to separate the colors into a rainbow pattern. I had a lovely assistant volunteer to help me sort the crayons. Each board had one or two colors.

I think I used every crayon we had and glue gunned them to a canvas board. Then I showed the children the boards and told them we were going to be applying heat using a blow dryer. I asked them what they thought would happen to the crayons. They were convinced the crayons were going to blow up.

As cool as that may have been, the crayons did not explode. They did however create beautiful drips that the children agreed seemed like blood.

And finally, the results!

Row Your Boat in Pairs

2011-09-02T13:05:00.000-05:00

I like this more physical version Row Row Row Your Boat, because it allows children to partner up for a whole body experience.

I just have them sit crisscross (or anyway really) and they rock each other back and forth while we sing away until we are tired. It's pretty soothing and as a bonus the children's natural desire to move is being channeled.

The end!

New year, new journals!

2011-08-29T16:20:00.000-05:00

One of my goals this year is to inspire the children to draw and write in the journals on a daily basis. I don't really want it to be "ok everyone sit down and journal what I tell you" kind of thing although sometimes I may do this.

Mostly, I'm hoping to use them as the children build or create or tell stories in as a natural part of their day. To do this I'm trying to find a special location for their journals that they can have quick easy access to on a moments notice. They do have cubbies but as winter approaches cubbies are stuffed with backpacks, coats, hats mittens and other miscellaneous items that I'm afraid they will be damaged. I was hoping to find paper trays at the thrift store this summer because at several dollars a piece, the price adds up quickly.

In the mean time while I sort out this problem, I have taken the children's photos and had them printed and laminated to serve as the cover of their journals. To begin I asked them to draw a picture of themselves to serve as a base for other self portraits later this year. Here is a sample:

When I asked M, who is four, to tell me about her drawing she said, "My hair, my fingers, my feet, my hands, my teeth, my eyelashes, my tummy, my arms, and my legs, and that's it!"

The end!

patterns on the light projector

2011-06-03T15:16:00.000-05:00

I filled up this clear Ikea container with an assortment of colorful transparent objects and worked with the children to make patterns.

First though, I let them explore on their own and they dumped objects on the projector in their haste to touch and see everything at once:

Then I explained how we had to place the objects with purpose and notice the effect it made on the wall projection, and how we could organize the materials to make patterns:

These were the results:

Images from the projector are a lot more colorful:

Some dialog from the children:
K: If you put this one on top of this one the reflection is orange.
K: No, don't put that one there it doesn't look nice.
D: Sprinkle it all over the place! Oh, it's getting more black.
K:Can you hand me those squares?
D: Those aren't squares, those are angles.
Ms. Erin: Rectangles?
D: Yeah. Rectangles.

water, sunlight, and mirrors

2011-05-31T15:28:00.000-05:00

This was supposed to be a lesson on refraction, but there wasn't much sun today so we had fun with reflection instead. I love taking the curriculum outside whenever possible. Sunlight is always preferable to fluorescent light and an added bonus was dipping our hands in cold water on a hot day.

I filled up some smallish white tubs with two sizes of mirrors. One tub had clear water and one tub was tinted a pale purple.

Later I added some colored translucent shapes to spice things up since there wasn't any direct sunlight.

I didn't document any of their thoughts today because my hands were busy in the tubs as well!

The end!

Robin Egg Blue

2011-05-13T14:09:00.000-05:00

The children were really interested in making nests and eggs out of clay. When I suggested we mix colors (something I know they like to do from previous color mixing activities) to make 'robin's egg blue' I ran out of seating at the art table and we had to work in shifts.

I offered the children white, blue, and yellow paint. From experience they knew they would need a lot of white but we didn't know how much yellow or blue. We began mixing colors using a photo of the eggs as a reference.

After we mixed we painted a swatch and decided if the color was accurate or if we had to add more yellow or blue.
A: It needs more blue. It needs to be darker:

V: This color matches.

They then proceeded to paint their robin's eggs.

The end!

clay nests & eggs

2011-05-13T14:05:00.000-05:00

After viewing the robin's nest, the children were very interested in making representations out of clay. Even though we had a clay station open most of the year, we've only used it purposefully a few times. The children seemed at ease, though.

They pushed and pinched the clay, making a bowl shape:

They broke off pieces and rolled it to make eggs:

Some children even decided add grass to their nests:

The end!

Robin's Nest

2011-05-11T15:38:00.000-05:00

The other day when I was taking J to school, we noticed a bird's nest just laying on the ground outside a mostly unused back door. I thought maybe it was an abandoned nest and dismissed it from my mind. However, two days ago, we discovered a robin had laid an egg!

The following day we noticed yet another egg and it was then I realized I had to take my Pre-K class to see this wonder.

Before we went, we listed all the things we knew about birds. I've charted their thoughts and separated them into a few categories:

What do birds do?	What do birds have?	Where are birds?	What do nests have?	What kinds of birds are there?
Fly	Feathers	In the sky	Have sticks	Cardinals
Stay in a nest	Beaks	In a cage	Have leaves	Robins
Lay eggs	Two legs	In a tree	Have mud
Hatch	Different colors	On branches	Have grass
Die
Poop
Hop
Eat bird seeds
Eat worms
Give food to babies
Tweet

After our discussion, I split the children into two groups and took them to see the nest, journals in had. We sat in a circle and just used our eyes to observe.

Here is what they had to say:
D: They're baby eggs
A: I like baby eggs. We're going to see two birds.
?:They made a beautiful nest.
D: Wait a second! There's mud!
A: When they get bigger they can fly.
S: They have sticks.
D: The mom's going to come back from the tree.
M: And sit on the nest!
D: The babies will crack it when they be big boys. They will eat worms.
K: I want to see them hatch.
V: Oh! A little tiny tiny nest!
E: Look! Mines has two eggs
K:When they hatch, I want to see the chicks.
V: It's cute!
E: I made a flag so they guys don't mow the nest down.
V: I've seen eggs before.
K: What do eggs feel like?

While I was talking to a student, one child decided to give the birds a gift of a dandelion. Others quickly followed suit. I was concerned we may have caused damaged and the momma wouldn't return.

When our afternoon class went out for their turn, I realized I had nothing to worry about as we discovered that there we not two, but three eggs. Momma robin had been busy during lunch break!

M: Look at the blue eggs!
K: Are the baby birds in the nest?
A: When will the eggs hatch?

While looking at the nest, I noticed its proximity to an empty room with a wall of windows near the nest. I asked the children if they wanted to spy on the robin to watch her return to her nest.

K: She's sitting on her nest! She looks frozen.

M: She is very still

Here is a sample of some of their journal pictures, three year old's on top, fours on the bottom:

Based on their words, (seven references to eggs, six to nests) I will see if they are interested in making their own visual representations of eggs and nests.

The end!

light and shadow study in the block area

2011-04-27T16:14:00.000-05:00

I took our projector out of the light studio and set it up in the block area for a change of pace.

The children went to town, literally! Buildings, and towers and castles went up right away, though they had to work on getting out of the way of the projector light to see their structures and figure out the best distance away from the projector to put their work.

They were moving so fast I didn't get a chance to document their words. Although I do remember lots of gasps of, "It's beautiful." I also remember someone calling the rainbow blocks "reflection blocks."

adding a chute to the sensory table

2011-04-13T15:36:00.000-05:00

A few posts ago, I blogged about the dividers in our sensory table. This week we added a chute to the mix which added pitch and a level change.

The children enjoyed watching the rice and beans pour down the chute:

and watching it come out the end:

The children enjoyed this very much. Usually they worked in tandem, with someone scooping the mixture into the chute and someone catching it at the other end.

The end!

Scrabble alphabet matching game

2011-04-07T15:55:00.000-05:00

An activity for the manipulative table. The children matched the scrabble tiles to the letters written on the plastic container (y&z were lumped together). I set out some tweezers to make it more challenging:

The end!