Winter Wonderland
The children came to school on Monday to a winter wonderland. There was insta-snow in the sensory table, snow themed tinker trays, peppermint scented play-dough with letters, “ice” in the block area (butcher paper taped down to the floor), and “snow” (shredded paper) in the gym.
The winter themed backdrop some of the children painted last week was used for a photo session this week.
Art
This week we began working on a special gift (top secret work), self-portraits, Noam’s birthday portrait using loose parts, and a gift for Marisa.
Blocks & Manipulatives
The winter wonderland set up and the holidays have been a big influence on what the children build in the block area this week. Nora and Liv built an ice castle in the block area and pretended to be Elsa. Aidan recruited some friends to help him build a Christmas tree building. A group of friends built a boat to take them to the North Pole.
Liv and Noam built a hexagon shaped structure using the magna-tiles. This was the first time they have done this and they were very proud of their work!
Language & Literacy
Since the pre-K class is made up of a group of alphabet experts, we are working with the 2’s/3’s to help them learn their letters. This week we made the letter A using aluminum foil and helped our younger friends think of words that begin with the letter A.
Helping our younger friends is a great way to build self-esteem.
Books we read this week: Harold at the North Pole, The Gingerbread Boy, Daddy Christmas and Hanukkah Mama, and There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed Some Snow!
Science
This week we conducted an ice block, salt, and liquid watercolor paint experiment. Before sprinkling salt onto their blocks, the children predicted what would happen. All the children thought their ice would turn the color of their tray. When Nora picked up her ice block, and noticed that it had not changed color, everyone began to change their predictions. Nora thought her ice block would melt because the salt is warm/hot. George noticed his salt starting to get hard and thought that it got hard because the ice was cold.
As everyone began working, we began to notice changes to the ice: change is ice block size, water on the trays, and lines in their ice. Now it was time to introduce the liquid watercolor. As the children began painting their ice, they saw the colors running down the side or creating a pool of paint inside.
Aidan loved this experiment so much that he said he wants to do it every day!
Since it snowed on Wednesday, it was only natural to conduct a snow experiment! We created a snowstorm in a jar.
Math
Using dominoes, we worked on various math skills: subitizing, adding, number recognition, and counting.
Social Emotional
Marisa’s last day of school was Thursday, and we made something to make sure she would never forget us. Please come back and visit the next time you’re in New York!
We’ll miss you Marisa!