Hanging Around

A Visit From OA

We love when children who have moved on come back to visit! (hint hint!) It is always wonderful when children re-visit and get a chance to be ALUMNI! OA always enjoyed clay and playdough so we brought some out to assist him with re-connecting. Here we are having a discussion about things we have made in the past when OA was with us and that gave us a chance to go over the rolling movement used in clay work. Working with clay/playdough offers multiple avenues for creative thinking, fine motor work, language development and more. OA was a catalyst for many of our experiences.

Spaghetti Day!

Spaghetti is one of the children's favorite lunches. The children are making progress with utensils but spaghetti is tricky because of the noodles and sauce. They gave it their best try! Overall all the children are comfortable with forks, but spoons prove more of a challenge. We just continue to offer them and allow the children to practice.

JM Makes a House

Occasionally a child will spend more time on an activity than usual. On this day JM began work on this Lego house and continued to return to the house and add to it. He would carefully add a Lego, evaluate it's use, and then either move it or try something else. JM has rich imaginative play ideas, and he took great care to explain to M who the man outside the house was and why he was there. We asked him where you enter the house and if he planned to add more items to it in the future. When a child is engaged over time on an activity we attempt to extend their ideas and challenge their thinking. It is a careful give and take that requires patience and listening. Young children will work a little harder at finding language to communicate if they feel you are truly interested and ask questions that are open ended. Here are some questions we use to help you get started:
What are your plans for .....
How will you do......
What if I wanted to....
What if you wanted to...

Cleaning Up, JM and AN Style

Well, we asked and they did it! "Hey, A and J we need to clean up so we can go outside - would you clean everything up off the floor?" As you can see they did just that. : ) Even though this type of "cleaning up" can be frustrating, it is an attempt at organizing a large number of items. We had to take a photo of this because they worked a long time at getting all those toys to fit, looking at shapes and spaces that would fit, and we have to appreciate the process. After this, we decided to reduce the number of toys in the room and find better dedicated space for things, so that cleaning up and concentrating is easier for the children. Its an ongoing process!

Crawling Under

Ever noticed that when children will nearly always find the smallest possible space to squeeze into? It seems to be human instinct to make a fort or hide away in a private space. On this day AB got some early training in early hide-n-seek. We loved the images from this day and wanted to share. Enjoy!

Helping a Friend

On this day CM needed help putting on her shoes so that we could go outside. AN, who is usually willing to help the other children, is careful and patient with her. It's important to note that most of the time the children do not want anyone to touch their shoes! Shoes and personal items are usually off limits and only accessible to someone with whom they've formed a trusting relationship and AN is one of those friends.

More Glasses

As promised, here's another post about sunglasses and this one has the added bonus of dancing! Have you ever noticed that dressing up is often accompanied by dancing? Changing outer appearances gives children the chance to try on a different persona - eyes are hidden or clothing offers a new identity. Of course children love to look at themselves when they look different so we created a dress-up corner dedicated to this activity.

A Very Sad Day

This post will be out of order, but I wanted to write this while it's current. Today was AV's last day - her family is moving out of state. A has been with us since she was four months old and its been a pleasure to watch her as she's blossomed and grown over the past few years. AV will be missed a great deal, but we wish her and her family all the best in this new chapter of their lives

Our Kids

The Store

Creating a store (the chair is the counter) is another popular play sequence. JL and AN are deepening their play with more complex interactions. They regularly set the chair on it's side, pile up toys behind it, and wait for customers. If none are forthcoming they will yell out "store!" Wesupport the play by giving baskets to other children for shopping, making signs, and supplying items to sell such as empty food boxes. Eventually the store is abandoned, but will be re-created at a later time. With mixed ages imaginary play is often transferred from the older to younger children and everyone benefits. Again, we use this play as a time to deepen thinking with questions like, "how many can I buy?" or "how much is this item?" or by asking them to offer solutions to problems: "I don't have any money, how can I get some?" We also encourage items in the store so we can shop more easily. The options are endless!