We had a great week in 2B! We took our first walks outside, explored a loose parts project, did an ice exploration, had a special visitor, and more.
We’re also excited to share our classroom intent/project for the year: using our senses in cooking. We will be focusing on using our sense of smell, touch, taste, sight, and hearing to study different foods and ingredients. These activities give us the opportunity to incorporate so many different domains - math, literacy, science, social emotional, and fine motor - in a fun and authentic way! If you have any ideas or questions, please let us know. We love volunteers!
Neighborhood Walks
On Tuesday, we ventured outside for the first time this year! We started by taking a practice walk around the school, working on getting acclimated with holding on to the rope, keeping our eyes up, and walking safely. After, we took our walk outside! We walked around the block, noting the different things we saw and heard:
Cooper: “I hear a garbage truck.”
Amalia: “Cars!”
Charlie: “Cones.”
Mikey: “Lights.”
Cooper: “A ladder…we’re walking to Mom’s work.”
Maddy: “Bike.”
Many of the children also noticed the sound of the subway train passing by underneath us!
We’re excited to take more walks around the neighborhood - to the park, the farmers market, and more!
Loose Parts
On Tuesday, we put out water bottles and various loose parts (ribbon, pipe cleaners, pompoms, and feathers.) Each child practiced their fine motor skills by taking turns putting the loose parts into a water bottle. Many of the children started by using pompoms and feathers. Several children noticed that the pipe cleaners were too long, and could not fit in the bottle. Cooper had the idea to fold the pipe cleaner in half, which Charlie soon followed. Amalia then folded up the ribbon and put it in a bottle, which Mikey enjoyed doing also. Nicole, Amalia, and Maddy decided to fill up their bottles with loose parts, put the caps back on, and shake them. Charlie enjoyed taking all the loose parts, throwing them up in the air, and watching them fall down!
We love incorporating fine motor activities that are fun and engaging for the children. These types of activities encourage children to engage in open ended play, practice patience and problem solving, and work to grasp materials. These skills continue to develop over time, offering children the confidence to complete everyday tasks such as dressing themselves, drawing, writing and more!
Ice Exploration
On Thursday, the children were curious about a new item in our sensory bin: a huge block of ice! Amalia touched the ice, then began playing with the water. Charlie touched the ice, then tapped it with a water bottle. Nate rubbed the side and said, “feels good.” Amalia asked, “Is it ice?” to which Nate responded, “It’s ice.” Cooper touched the ice and said it was “soft” and “cold.” Mikey agreed that the ice was “soft.” Nate brought pipe cleaners over and dipped them in the water. After, the children brought the cars over. They drove them across the water and up and down the ice. We posed the question: “Why is water coming out of the ice?” Nate explained, “because we’re breaking it off.” Amalia said, “the water is flavor of ice.”
At the end of the day, Amalia, Nate, and Mikey were curious about the ice in the now-covered sensory bin. Amalia noticed that there was “more water” and that the block of ice was smaller!
The children seemed to be very excited about this science project. Next week, we are going to continue our ice exploration, and further investigate why water comes out of ice - stay tuned!
Cooking!
On Friday, we had a special visitor in 2B - Amalia’s mom, Chloe! She brought in a recipe and ingredients for healthy apple cookies. Each child had the opportunity to learn about and taste some of the ingredients, add the ingredients to the bowl, and stir the batter. After the cookies baked in the oven, we enjoyed them with our lunch - they were a big hit!
Apples & Honey Breakfast Cookies
Ingredients:
2 c. quick oats
1 ripe banana
1 c. sunflower butter
1/4 c. apple butter
1/4 c. honey
1/2 tsp.salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 c. raisins
3/4 c. dried apples, diced
1/2 c. shelled roasted pumpkin seeds
1/4 c. ground flaxseed
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Combine ingredients in a large bowl. Bake for 15 minutes.
Other projects this week included:
Coffee filter art
Expanding our building structures
Creating and assigning classroom jobs
Naming our fish!
Practicing with scissors
Tape art
Exploring sensory bottles
Face/name cards
Collaging with loose parts
More reading! Right now, the children are loving books by Laura Numeroff (If You Give a Pig a Party, If You Give a Pig a Pancake, If You Take a Mouse to School). These books are giving us inspiration for our Halloween costumes - we will take a vote sometime next week on what we should be. Stay tuned for details!
Just a reminder that BMS will be closed on Monday, September 30th and Tuesday, October 1st, in observance of Rosh Hashanah. See you all on Wednesday!