Dinosaur and letter explosions! We put baking soda on the bottom of trays, cups of colored vinegar, dinosaurs, and letter beads. The kids had so much fun pinching, squirting, and making eruptions. There was much discussion about letters, colors, types of dinosaurs and so much more. We have some more dinosaur fun planned for next week. Have a fantastic weekend!
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Today we made Brontosaurus puppets. We learned that the Brontosaurus was a plant eater. We created our puppets and cut out leaves for it to eat. The kids wanted their dinosaurs to stand up so we used cups and play dough to prop them up! Today we created a T-Rex teeth necklace by threading foam triangles and straw pieces onto yarn. T-Rex was one of the largest meat-eating dinosaurs. We learned that the T-Rex had very sharp teeth, tiny arms, and two very big feet. We have also been working on patterns and this week we are making patterns with the shapes when practicing names. Today we worked on AAB pattern. There are many different sizes of dinosaur bones. They fit together like a puzzle. People have bones, too! Today we designed bone puzzles and we discussed where we can feel bones in our body. For the bone puzzles, they were able to choose to copy the puzzle or make their own dinosaur. As a group, we also made a huge dinosaur skeleton. We worked together making bones out of paper and putting together a huge dinosaur skeleton! Today we made a fossil stamp. Fossils are imprints of plants or animals from a long time ago. We used a lid and stickers, the kids placed the sticker on the lid and then we dipped in brown paint and made fossils. Fossils are preserved remains of plants and animals. If it weren't for fossils, we wouldn't know about dinosaurs. Scientists have decided that to be considered a fossil the remains have to be at least 10,000 years old! We made play dough to use to make imprints using bugs, dinosaurs and links. We played I spy today, looking at the dinosaur theme poster and using I Spy Glasses to identify or find something on the poster. Day 1 & 2 of Dinosaur fun! We pretended to be a paleontologist while writing in our field journals. They were encouraged to write and draw inside their journal to record what dinosaurs looked like. We learned that an excavation site is a place where fossils are found and carefully dug up with shovels and cleaned with brushes. Today we used a paintbrush, sand, glue, and dinosaur bones to create my own excavation dig. We also were introduced to a new toy this week. Alpha Robots! Best ever, the kids loved them! We have been reading The Mitten, by Jan Brett. We discussed the animals in the story, the color of Nicki's mitten, sequencing and we guessed how many blocks it would take tWe have been reading The Mitten, by Jan Brett. We discussed the animals in the story, the color of Nicki's mitten, sequencing and we guessed how many blocks it would take to fill a mitten. Each student guessed the number of blocks and as a group we filled our mitten. It took 43 counter blocks to fill our mitten. The kids each laced a mitten. They colored the animals in the story, we discussed the sequence of the animals going into the mitten and they chose if they wanted to glue animals to their laced mitten or stuff the animals in their mitten. We played mitten memory. We practiced taking turns, flipping the cards so everyone was able to see, and saying the letters selected. As a group we practiced some counting; we selected a mitten and took turns putting mini erasers on each mitten. We made a cup of hot cocoa with marshmallows! We used peppermint, cocoa, and paint. They really enjoyed smelling the peppermint! We made "icicles" using pipe cleaners and pony beads. We created beautiful winter paintings using paint, glue, and Epsom salt. The kids loved seeing the colors mix! The Epsom salt looks like ice crystals. We used lacing letters to mix in with our play dough. Playing with play dough helps strengthen fine motor skills in many ways. All that rolling, squeezing, pinching and cutting is excellent for strengthening those little hands and fingers. I observed the kiddos while playing with the play dough and there was so much going on with open ended play. I heard them discussing upper and lower case, sorting colors, finding letters in their names, and counting. Learning through play is an amazing way for little ones to learn! I love hearing about what they are building or making. One day while using the hot cocoa sensory bin a little guy built "power lines" with the brown block counters. He also made a candy cane farm with the pipe cleaners. Have a fantastic weekend! We worked on names, letter Ss, lots of pretend play and created some beautiful winter art! We also celebrated a birthday! Happy 3rd birthday Declan! The Hot Drink Cafe dramatic play area is all set up and ready for the kids to come back from Winter break! Children learn through imagining and doing. Children are always using their imaginations. Have you ever seen your child pick up a block and pretend it's a train? They are using an object to represent something else while giving it action and motion. Pretend play is not as simple as it may seem. The process of pretending builds skills in many essential developmental areas. Dramatic play supports social and emotional skills, math and literacy, fine motor skills and so much more. Let their imaginations soar! |
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