Happy Spring Break week! I'd hoped to get to this sooner, but we have been in sandbox land all week. At last, it's completed and I've got some time to sit and share with you.
During our last week at school we explored triangles. First, at our morning gatherings, we made a game of identifying triangles hidden in the pictures of Lois Ehlert's "Color Farm" as well as their new favorite, "Mouse Shapes". The children called out when they saw a triangle, or raised up a paper triangle over their heads to signal when they saw one. The paper triangles were cut in different sizes and arrangements so that the children could hold them up to each other to notice the differences in angles and the sameness of the three sides and three points. One child chose to cut bunches of tiny triangles to give to her friends in their mailboxes.
We also found triangles in the daffodils on the sharing table. Three daffodils of differing colors were in a vase to examine, and we could see that the petals really looked like triangles radiating out from the circle in the middle. I then gave the children triangles, circles and rectangles in yellow, white, orange and green and let them paste the shapes onto the paper in whichever way they chose. Interestingly, most children gravitated toward using circles first and then adding the other elements to their picture. While no one created a daffodil per se, we all got a chance to work with using glue and q-tips together, getting the glue onto the paper and getting the other pieces of paper to stick. Believe it or not, this is really a complex learning activity for some of our group-- not just where to put the glue, but also the fact that for the pieces to stick they must somehow be in the glue.
We also planted peas in little pots; the children scooped the potting soil in, poked a nice little hole and planted the peas of their choice. As of this writing, only two have sprouted, so the unsprouted peas will be removed and replanted this week. If you have a bigger pot or patch of dirt outdoors, these peas will just need something to climb up and vine around when they head home with the children.
Water play was a big hit in the large washtub. We included bubbles, marbles, funnels, the water mill and lots of colors. Before the week was over, we brought back the colored rice, and once again the children began making their cakes and smoothies in pans and bottles.
Other moments:
Digging for buried treasure in the sandbox--larger colored glass 'rocks' hidden everywhere to keep the kids busy looking in the corners of the garden, hopefully to find the other treasures like spiders, potato bugs and blossoms.
Making a 'big soup' together outside in a big pot or water. This activity gave a whole new meaning to the expression Stone Soup, as we had stones, pine cones, sand, bark chips and grass in our cauldron, stirred with a stick.
Coloring coffee filters with markers and spraying them with water to watch the colors run together and become softer. The spray bottles were their favorite part.
And we're to the end of my page of notes, so I'll see everyone in the coming days for more fun being together and learning about our world.
