Breakfast Basket ideas

   For our basket raffle, our classroom has chosen the "Breakfast Basket" as our theme.  We were thinking that some of the things going into the basket could include (but are not limited to):

Pancake Mix
Whisks
Pancake Flippers
Syrup
Oven Mits
Muffin Mix
Chocolate Chips (for pancakes or waffles)
IHop Giftcard
Egg Separater
Placemats

Anything that you or your family thinks would be a great breakfast idea would be welcome!

Tracing Water Flow

The children have been looking at fountains.  They recently saw photographs of fountains projected onto the wall and we were talking about how the water moves.  The children seem interested in the movement of the water and how it sometimes goes “down then up” in a fountain and how sometimes it goes “up then down.” 

Since this seemed to be something the children were interested in, we decided to expand on it.  We printed off some photos of more fountains, and put them on the light table.  We then covered the table with cellophane and gave the children dry erase markers.  We wanted to see if the children would use the markers to trace the path of the water as it moved down (or up!)

The children seemed to be excited about how the water moved.  Although it is still difficult for some children to manipulate their markers the way they want, they were able to demonstrate through actions and words what they knew about the path of water down a fountain.  Words like “fall,” “down,” and “move” were used by the children.  Some of the children moved their arms to show us how the water moves.

 

Building

     The past few weeks we have noticed an interest in building with the children.  They are building with various materials around the room.  Some of the children have been trying to stack and build with rocks, shells, blocks, and other materials around the classroom.

     Most of the children are stacking, with structures that look like towers.  The children are working on using steady hands and placing the next object on top, centered, on the object below it.  This has been difficult for some children, especially after their structures begin to get taller and taller.

     We are going to start using different types of building materials that may allow themselves to be used not only as towers, but other types of structures.  We have thought about different kinds of blocks, tiles, and other types of materials that the children might find interesting to build with.

What's in a pumpkin?

     We have started to explore different types of natural materials in the classroom, some of which are found primarily in this season.  This week, we collected leaves outside, then took them in to examine.  We ended up breaking them into very small pieces that we will use for future explorations.
     One of the other materials we brought into the classroom this week were pumpkins.  We let the children explore with them for a few days, feeling and examining the outside.  We then cut open the top and talked about what we might find inside.  After we opened it up to look at, the children were able to explore what we saw.  We decided that instead of cookies, dogs, or toys, that pumpkins had seeds inside.
     The open pumpkins were made available for the children to explore on their own or with small groups.  It was interesting to see the way each child chose to explore.  Those children that were not interested in touching the pumpkin with their hands found other ways to explore.  Some decided to use their nose, and some decided to use objects around the room to explore with.

 

     This child decided to bring a tool from the toolbox over.  He was not interested in touching the pumpkin with his hands but still wanted to examine what was inside.  We thought this was a neat alternative to using his hands and showed his ability to problem solve by using materials around the classroom.

Will it fit?

     The past couple of weeks we have noticed the children have been interested in how things fit with each other.  We have different sized tubes that the children can fit inside each other and they seem to stay engaged for long periods of time trying to see which sized tubes fit inside the big tubes.

     This has also carried over to other types of materials.  Some of the children have started to take other objects around the classroom, like cups, to see if they will fit inside each other.  We are starting to hear phrases like, "it fits" and "works" and "doesn't work."

 

     It will be neat to see what happens if we introduce other types of materials into the classroom that the children are capable of stacking inside larger items.  We are wondering if they are beginning to distinguish between "big" and "small."

How does water move?

     We noticed an interest with water very early on in the semester.  The children love to scoop, pour, and touch the water.  Mrs. Paris found a two-tiered planter at her house and brought it in for the children to explore.  The top tier has holes at the bottom, so the children can see how the water flows down to the bottom tier.

     There seemed to be a large interest with the children when water was brought to explore with the planter.  The children started to notice the downward motion of the water and even though some were not able to tell us with words what they noticed, they could show us with their actions.  For instance, some of the children began to put cups under the top tier of the planter to catch the water as it fell.  They understood that it was coming out of the bottom, and knew if they placed their cup underneath, they would catch some water.

     This was very interesting to us, so we are thinking of new ways to explore some of the same ideas with the children, building on what they seem to already know.  If you have any suggestions, we would love to hear them!