A SWEET Tea!

We have been very patiently awaiting our SDS Valentine's Day parties.  The snow kept us at home on the real day.  Our 3s were treated to a tea party, complete with ballroom dancing.  Here are some pictures from their fabulous morning!  Those kids really have some moves!

Sunshine 2014

The LONG awaited day finally arrived.  Last Monday, when we left preschool, everything was all set and ready for the start of the 2014 Winter Games.  Well, we had winter games on Tuesday, just not at preschool!  I know for a fact that although we could not have our Olympics at school, the boys and girls still enjoyed winter sports at home.  

We started our morning learning about the Olympic Rings. 

 We found out that the rings symbolize the 5 continents that Olympians travel from to compete. The Olympic rings also contain at least one color from each nation's flag.  

Next it was time to stretch with a little letter yoga.  

We made I

and N.

Time for the torch lighting and opening ceremonies!

We listened to the Olympic song (Bugler's Dream) and passed our torch around the classroom.

LET the games begin!

First event, figure skating.  We moved with the music and went slip sliding all around the classroom. 

The Frozen soundtrack was perfect for this event.  When the music stopped, so did we.  

Second event, winter sport crafting.

  We made ice skates and pipe cleaner snowboarders.

Third event, Name Ice Hockey.  Each child swept the letters of their name into their goal!

Then they arranged the letters to spell their names. 

SCORE!

Finally, and the most exciting of them all, was Snowman Bowling.  

Not sure if it was the game that was fun, or Mr. Herman! 

We finished up with a team event: Laundry Basket Luge!

Thank goodness all of those daddies showed up, because laundry basket luge is NO joke!

After a wonderful morning of Olympics, it was time for the closing ceremonies.  

The  boys and girls were such excellent athletes, good sports, and great team players.

To each went a GOLD medal!!!

All that exercise had us hungry.  We snacked on Olympic torches...

and Moon Pie Gold medals.

Thank you Robert C. for our fun Olympic snacks and thank you Trey for sharing your snack helper day with him, since we didn't get to have school when it was his turn.  What a good friend!

Thank you to the mamas, daddies, and grandmas that made our first ever Olympics a huge success!  It truly was epic!

Our "Real" Snowy Day!

Don't  you love it when a plan comes together?!? I was up late Thursday night preparing ice paint for my sweet 2s to use on Friday.  We were scheduled to learn the nursery rhyme Three Little Kittens.  

I kept hearing something hit the window and went outside to take a peek.  Imagine my surprise when I looked out and saw snow!

We started our day with the pledge of allegiance to the American flag, which they mostly seem to know!

Then we played the musical missing mitten game.

Each child picked a mitten out of the basket, then we played some terrific Frozen music.  We danced around and when the music stopped, we looked for our missing mitten friend.  

These 2 made a match! We learned that 2 make a pair!

And here too! We also noticed how our mittens were alike and different.

Then it was time for the detour in the lesson plans.  We were supposed to ice paint, get our mittens dirty, and then wash them and hang them on the line, just like the kittens did.,,

And that would have been an awesome day in the 2s room, but THERE WAS SNOW ON THE GROUND!  This never happens!  If there is snow on the ground, we are at home usually.  

So I went out and got a bucket of snow and brought it in.  What an amazing sensory experience God provided for us today!  We still got to use our mittens, it was just in a more authentic way.  We actually needed the mittens to keep our hands warm in the snow.  I love how we started out with just cups on the snow and it blossomed into this.  F and B thought the polar animals from the science center should definitely be in the snow, where they belong!  It was so neat to watch them spread the snow thin and make tracks with the animals.  

We did have time for mitten painting, just not the washing part.  

We had the best time creating art in a new way.

Our finished products.

We ended our surprise, snowy day with a version of the Snow-key Pokey and and a lesson on warm winter wear and the body parts that each piece of clothing keep warm.  

An Accidental Town

So, what happens when you move the tables out of the classroom for a birthday party?

AMAZING things!

This tape road has been in place for a few weeks.  We built it together. 

 

 We planned it around our tables and chairs. 

We learned how to make the tape turn where we needed a corner.

We learned what happens when the traffic catches up with the road builders!

There were traffic jams with honking horns and emergencies to respond to!

Left in place, this road became a part of our daily classroom life.

Whether you drove cars around it, walked the thin blue line, or noticed that the lines made letters, you noticed it.  

The road took on a whole new life they day we moved the tables for a birthday party.

Suddenly it became the borders of our town.  

The first thing the boys and girls thought our town needed was a church.

It is the building with the triangle roof.

Here in the background, you see our water tower and the foreground the penguin's swimming pool.

We eventually built a hospital, school, billboards, and a parking garage.

Here is our billboard, right beside the highway!

Children who never seem to find interest in the block center, were drawn to our community project.  It was fascinating to see the boys and girls demonstrate their understanding of town. By the end of our time together, we had working gates built, people in their proper workplace, and about 14 kids using their minds, bodies, and hands to engage in a cooperative learning project.  THIS is what it is all about.  

Now, I am left reconsidering that little idea that is always lurking in the back of my mind.  What would it be like if we got rid of the big tables?  Where would we write? Where would we eat?  I know that it is being done in Early Childhood classrooms and it might just be time to do a little more research and make this a reality.