Infant and toddler program
This winter, our infants and toddlers took advantage of each snowfall! Sledding is a classic snow activity, but we also discovered the fun of mowing snow, playing with snow in the classroom, and even tasting snow!
One toddler classroom explored painting with snow! Teachers invited children to use mops, brooms, and even their mittens to paint large cardboard boxes. Using these materials allows them to explore painting using their whole bodies and both sides of their brains. It also incorporates large motor manipulative skills as they stand on their tippy toes to reach their arms as high up the cardboard as they can. Teachers modeled how to “splat” or “whack” the mop onto the cardboard which led to discussions about sounds, size, shape, and colors. While some children were interested in using the tools, others were curious about the cause and effect of mixing it using their gloves as they spread it onto the picnic table.
Indoor activities included yoga! Toddlers played a dice game to decide which poses to try next.
Later, the children got to make their own sensory toys. They chose different colored balloons and used a funnel to fill them with different things. They chose to add rice and water for a bumpy texture or cornstarch and water for a squishy texture.
Preschool program
During Black History Month in February, children in the Birch Room spent time learning about diversity and creating art inspired by the beauty and variety of different skin tones.
We welcomed Sheila for a visit and a reading of the story M Is for Melanin, which talks about racial diversity with affirming, positive words. The children drew with Crayola Colors of the World crayons and identified the colors that matched our skin tones. They explored a globe, curious to learn about different parts of the world and the skin tones that people might have in different places.
We were also excited to have a visit from Tammy, who read the book Skin Again and shared special things about herself, her family, and her Dakota culture. Tammy brought a piece of birch bark to show and shared that the birch is a very important tree in Dakota culture—a detail that impressed us in the Birch Room!
Children then worked on a collage using paint, crayons, and colored paper. They cut, pasted, scribbled, glued and painted, having positive conversations about different skin tones as they worked.
Part-day preschool program
Willow Room morning preschool class
In the Willow Room, leading up to the cold days the children were into making ice art by placing natural materials in molds before adding colorful water and waiting for them to freeze. We continued to make ice on the cold days and then brought it into the sensory table. Children used warm water to melt the ice away and free the items that were frozen in the ice. Small groups of children bundled up on the very cold days to climb the snow mountain across the street.
Our indoor activity was building structures out of small wood pieces and wood glue. They added more details each day and painted them by the end of the week. These structures will now be incorporated into play by using them with the children’s small pegs with images of themselves on them, large paper for roads, cars and street signs.
Willow Room afternoon preschool class
The Willow Room has gone through a lot of busy changes to start our semester. We have welcomed new peers into our community and really engaged learning about the Five Senses.
Art, always a popular play space, has turned into making paper airplanes to see how far we can get them to fly!
Over in dramatic play, we have construction workers building offices for doctors, architects, and puppies.
Color mixing has been popular at the science table as the children use their fine motor skills to purposefully mix different colors to see what they can make.
Tamarack Room morning preschool class
In the Tamarack Room, the children have taken advantage of the frigid temperatures in their explorations. We’ve been making ice, combining different colors of water in molds and monitoring them as they freeze. When we’ve made it outside, the ice has been used for building and, of course, breaking! We’ve also been exploring what makes ice melt faster. The children have compared how salt, sugar, and flour impact melting speed.
Experimentation has continued with sensory play as children have mixed cornstarch with colorful water to make oobleck!
Cherry Room morning toddler class
We are enjoying the warmer weather, which brings in the new slush, puddles, and mud environment! The children are experimenting and exploring all the sensory experiences.
Dakota Language Nest
On February 7, the Nest took a field trip to see the play Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!, written by Mo Willems.
We even were invited on stage to meet an indigenous child actor after the show. The children were captivated by the humor and enjoyed the entire trip.
When we returned to the Nest, we read more Pigeon books by Mo Williams, learned about real pigeons, created art that included pigeons, feathers, and bird seed, and even made our own bus from cardboard and paint. All the children took turns driving the bus!