We had a great first full week back in school! We began a new grocery store study, explored clay, painted ice, and made a fruit salad.
Specialists
Spanish - we practiced the days of the week and words to describe the weather, as well as learned new animals with a matching game:
ballena - whale
zorro - fox
reno - reindeer
oso polar - polar bear
orca - killer whale
Cooking- we squeezed lemon juice and tried different colored grapes. While eating, we counted the number of grapes in Spanish and talked about which color was our favorite.
Soccer- we practiced our hand eye coordination with a game where the children kicked the saucer cones over to the traffic cones and tried to balance it on the traffic cone.
Music- we sang along to the books “Never Feed A Yeti Spaghetti” and “Baby Bear, Baby Bear, What Do You See?” We also danced to the Hokey Pokey (as per Cooper’s request).
Social Emotional/Dramatic Play/Math
The children love to engage in imaginative play in the kitchen: finding ingredients, cooking, setting the table, and eating meals together. In order to extend this play and further our cooking curriculum, we decided to create a classroom grocery store. In order to figure out what we needed, we took a trip to the store to do research. We decided on all the materials and items we would need, built our store, and began to play! The children took on the different roles of the grocery store: customers and cashiers. We talked about our real life experience in grocery stores, such as choosing and paying for items, waiting in line when we check out, counting money, and being kind to other customers and workers. The children practiced turn taking, role playing, patience, counting, and a little bit of Spanish!
Fine Motor/Sensory
On Wednesday, we engaged in a full body clay experience today! The children began by exploring the clay with their feet. Nicole explained that the tarp was “water” and that we needed toys for it! The children grabbed the letter connectors and used them to further explore the clay. This activity allowed the children to engage their fine motor skills and create play scenarios.
Science
On Thursday, we explored a big block of ice. As we began the conversation surrounding ice, the children recalled that freezing water makes ice. They enjoyed feeling its smooth texture, then used droppers with water colors to paint! They noticed that the paint dripped down the ice cube and created a puddle. This was such a fun sensory activity that engaged the children’s fine motor skills, hand eye coordination, and fostered creativity.
Literacy/Spanish
Throughout the week, we have been working on incorporating more Spanish into our curriculum. During lunchtime, Chloe (Amalia’s Mom/Buckle My Shoe Staff Member) read several books in Spanish to us. We used this time to practice new food vocabulary and relate it back to the children’s lunches. We’re excited to continue this learning! Here are some words we learned this week that you can practice at home:
queso - cheese
helado - ice cream
manzana - apple
sandía - watermelon
naranja - orange
frijoles - beans
limón - lemon
piña - pineapple
arroz - rice
lechuga - lettuce
tomate - tomato
numbers 1-10 in Spanish
Cooking
On Friday, we took another trip to the grocery store to buy ingredients for a fruit salad. Before we left, the children collectively decided that we should buy oranges, green apples, and watermelon. When we arrived back at school, the children used plastic knives to cut up our fruit. We also talked about how to say orange (naranja), watermelon (sandía), and apple (manzana) in Spanish. After, the children took turns mixing while we counted to 5 in Spanish. Then, we enjoyed! This cooking activity allowed us to do more grocery store research, engaged their fine motor muscles, and gave us a chance to practice our Spanish and counting.
Reminder: if you have any containers, boxes, or jars at home, please bring them in!
Have a great weekend!