Building an Empire

Lately the kids have been building. Building what? Everything... They have been breaking out the maps to figure out where they would like their buildings to be. Then they find what ever they can to create a build of their own. Some times they use the large foam blocks and build elaborate empires with Kings and Knights.

Sometimes they go out to the backyard and build trenches and moats with the mud puddles.

They have taken out the wooden table blocks and built fasinating castles on the tables at work time.

They have come up with the best ideas and details. They have had flags or gates, ramps and stairs, one even had a boat only entrance. I am so proud that they are being so creative and finding so many ways to express themselves. I love these guys!

Wormland

Today we fininshed up Worm Week. A day late, but worth the wait. We made "Wormland" last week the kids fingerpainted worm tracks on some brown paper so that it looked like the worms were digging through the dirt. Then we colored some paper different shades of brown and black to show the different types of dirt the worms lived in and then crumpled up the paper to look like dirt clumps which we discovered that the worms prefered to live in. We found lots of those during our worm hunt. Then we used clay to make some worms. The kids had a blast rolling the clay into different sized and colored worms. Then we put it all together and made "Wormland" on the wall. So much fun and great way to close the worm exploration.

Worms ~~~~~~

This week we are learning all about worms! We decided to take advantage of the weather and explore all of the worms that the kids have been seeing all over. We started the week by talking about the worms and how their bodies are different than ours. They don't have eyes, so all of the kids practiced moving around the house with their eyes closed feeling for the walls and furniture. Then we learned that the worms don't have ears, but the hear by vibrations. So we all laid down with our ears on the floor to listen while someone jumped up and down.

The next day we made a wormery. This is a worm's house. We found different kinds of dirt (potting soil, outside dirt and sand) and made layers for the worms to dig through. Then we went on a hunt for worms. They found some worms to live in the wormery and we check their dirt for tunnels everyday at circle time.

We included a song about worms into circle time each day. We even made our own worm puzzle and the kids colored it :) It has been a blast getting dirty and learning all about the world around us!

Meet Jo-Jo

The week after Christmas is always filled with happy stories of the wonderful toys and gifts that everyone received for Christmas from Santa and all of those other less important gift givers :) This year we meet Jo-Jo. Sammy got Jo-Jo for Christmas and he has been the star of the show this week. If you haven't heard of Jo-Jo he is a hide and seeking, talking, dancing bunny. The kids hide with Jo-Jo's carrot and Jo-Jo finds them and does a happy dance! The kids love it! Given Jo-Jo seeks about as well as 3 year olds hide, but it has been great around here. Lots of laughing and fun! We love that...

New Years Fun!

Well, 2010 is almost over. Time to get ready to welcome in 2011! We want to make sure that everyone can hear us as we stay up late New Years Eve and welcome in the new year so we made some noise makers :) We decorated some homemade shakers, filled them with rice and beans and sealed them tight so that we can shake and move with the best of them and make some serious noise! So much fun :)

Smells like Christmas....

Today we made Christmas ornaments. This is one of my favorite crafts for this time of year! We put applesauce and cinnamon in a zip lock bag and squeeze it to mix the ingredients together. Then we roll it flat and use Christmas cookie cutters to make different shaped ornaments for our trees. They are so cute, they look like gingerbread and smell wonderful! It's great a great way to capture the season and completely child made. They had so much fun squishing and mixing :) We ended up with Christmas trees, gingerbread men and Frosty the Snowman and they all smell like cinnamon and apples. And the best part is that these ornaments hold their smell for years to come.

Team work

This week we are working on our social skills. The kids are learning to work in teams to solve problems or create projects. To get them started I hung some large paper on the wall and put them in pairs to paint on the walls. They had so much fun! They worked together sharing paper and paints, they practiced taking turns and saying please and thank you. Seems the season to focus on that for a while :)