Sunday, April 12, 2009

Cutiosity!








Collage







Collage work is a great way to explore shapes, color and spacial relationships. On this day we taped sticky white contact paper to the table (we did not want them to focus on the glue, but the shapes and space instead) and provided them with paper and foam shapes, rick rack, pom poms and feathers for a variety of shapes and textures. Each child worked in his or her own way - some grouped colors and shapes, others used a play theme (the bridge or bad guy) and GM and FF spent almost an hour working on theirs! We were surprised to see that nearly all of the children spread out the pieces and attempted to space them fairly evenly. FF and NK are still able to look at each collage now hanging in the room and tell us who made it!

Collaborative Castle






This was one of those rare and special times when ALL the children connected to the play, even little CH! It began when we introduced the large Duplo blocks and the children asked us to help them start building a castle (note the Snow White dress and the castle theme). Soon all the children were carefully attempting to add to the structure. We are fascinated when the children seem to understand and respect an event such as this one, joining in the building in a constructive way, without breaking the structure or stepping on it. This is a huge step in young children's play and we are always working towards those type of respectful interactions.

AV's Favorite Toys





AV especially enjoys playing with the animals but the giraffes are clearly her favorites. AV will carry the mom, dad and baby giraffes around for long periods of time, occasionally stopping to turn them towards each other and have them interact. They interact on the table, the floor, the windowsill and our laps! Sometimes one of us will enter her play and connect to the giraffe family world. We have some very interesting conversations!

Baby J Joins the Group!




FF Organizes




Princess Dance Party





More of JM's Handiwork





Making Cookies








Leaves!