The Ladybugs made their way out to the Forest, and when we arrived it was clear that someone was here before us. The children observed the footprints on the ground... "Look! A bunny was here, it went out this way, and around the fence into this yard!!" The children walked around, looking for more clues on who could have been in the Forest earlier, "LOOK!!!!! LOOK AT THESE FOOT PRINTS!!! They're huge, they must be BIG FOOT'S!" "Yeah, lets follow them to see if we can find them, they're going this way!" All of a sudden out of the corner of a child's eye, they noticed some colour in the snow... it was coloured ice!!! "Let's make a trail, to see if we can trap big foot in the forest!" "BIG FOOT WHERE ARE YOU!!!" The children climbed up on trees to get a better view, "COME HERE BIG FOOT WE HAVE FOOD FOR YOU!! With no luck, the children went back to the foot prints to observe, "Look, my foot can fit right inside Big Foot's print! Look at the size compared to mine!" "You know what? I think he's sleeping" "Yeah, let's finish this trail for when he wakes up... I think he likes fish so make sure we put fish in there so he can find us when he wakes up!" Although we didn't find Big Foot, we were still happy with the time we spent exploring. We were able to work together as a team and try out our ideas in order to find out more about the mysterious foot prints in the Forest! The ladybug group was able to use their imagination, investigate, share ideas, problem solve and learn together! Stay tuned to see if Big Foot makes another appearance in the Forest!
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Hi There, if you remember from a previous post the Ladybug group has been exploring the idea of height through climbing, building airplanes, and exploring new and different ways to build. Since then, we have continued to find new ways to learn through our interest in height! This week we walked to Kimberly Hill, it is a hill about 15 minutes walking from Dawn and Dusk and it is HIGH! We climbed up to the top, took a look around and what we noticed was that from up there you could see a lot of Winnipeg! From there we decided to explore art through height. How does one do art using height you may ask? You climb to a height point and DROP THE BALL!!!! SPLAT!! We went to the structure with some paint and balls, and paper at the bottom on the ground. We took turns letting the ball drop from up high and splat down on the paper. We examined the splats and discussed why some may be bigger and smaller. We noticed that when we used the bigger squishier ball, it gave us a HUGE splat. The smaller balls didn't leave as good of a mark. See some pf the pictures below!! Our next step is to try from a new height, will this make a difference? Will being higher or closer to the ground give us a different outcome? Stay Tuned!! By: Amberly Coming back in September, I was feeling a little discouraged trying to incorporate Sensory Play into the Kindercare program with the new regulations. Usually, we make slime, playdough, moon sand... We usually have sand play, water play, water beads... but this year is a little different and that is OKAY!
Mel, our team leader shared a little blog that she received from Veronica Green (https://www.ronniespreschool.com) who specializes in the power of play, sensory processing and loose parts! What I realized, is that we are exploring sensory play each and everyday! She listed a few things that made me think about sensory play a little bit differently. I encourage you to check out her website! Here are some of the ideas she mentioned, and most fit right in with our current play: "Listen to nature, feel the wind and cool air, see the colours" "Crawl through leaves, jump in piles, crunch with hands and feet" "Crawl, roll, walk and spin up and down hills" "Climb trees, stumps and boulders" "Walk along the edges of different heights" We do these things every single say, sometimes without even realizing it. These incorporate all the five learning domains, and engage all 8 of our senses! It shows how it is so important to get outside, and get in touch with nature!! The Caterpillar group has been taking advantage of the fall season and exploring sensory play outdoors within the trees and the leaves. Check out our leaf fight that we had this past week. Doesn't this look like fun? Learning through play is the best way to learn!! We plan to take full advantage of the fall season before it comes to an end, and by then we will be ready to learn in the snow!! By: Amberly Did you know that your hands are covered in germs even though you can't see them? Do you know the best way to get rid of those germs?
Both the Ladybug group and the Caterpillar group did an experiment this week to test out what the best way to ensure we have clean hands is! How you ask?? We put a little bit of water on a paper plate, sprinkled a light layer of germs (pepper) on the top and observed as the germs spread out across the plate. We discussed how when we forget to use soap while washing our hands that the germs aren’t going away, they’re simply just spreading around more! Next step was to try with soap! We dipped our finger in dish soap, and placed it in the water and pepper mixture!! Guess what happened?! The germs SCATTERED. It was clear from this experiment that the best, and only way to ensure that our hands are germ free is to use soap! This experiment was super fun to try, and allowed us to have some very good conversations about the importance of washing our hands properly! It was a good visual for the children to see the difference between just water, and soap/water mixture. Interested in seeing for yourself? Ask your child to show you how to try this at home! By: Amberly The Ladybug Group has been exploring the idea of height for weeks now. Whether that means building a really tall tower, climbing as high as they can on the structure, or even trying to get to the top of a tree. Height is the area of focus, so the educators in the room are trying to rise to the challenge! What could we do to take this even further? Explore even higher?
We started by talking about the feelings when you're up high. Some of the children said that it made them feel nervous inside, but they like it... others mentioned that they LOVE the feeling of being up high because they get to see things that they can't see on the ground. We began to brainstorm, and gathered some ideas on how to add height to the indoor program as well, because the children recognized that climbing was much more difficult to do inside. We read the book called "Angela's Airplane" by Robert Munsch, and as I finished reading, I could feel the energy in the room change. I felt wide, and excited eyes looking my way as I closed the book... "WE SHOULD BUILD OUR OWN AIRPLANE!!!!!" shouted a couple of the children... so we did! We found some boxes, did some construction to get it looking just right, and then added some colour! Our plane even has a steering wheel and some cool buttons! We worked very hard on this project all morning. It was SUCH a long day waiting for our new creation to dry... but when it finally did, we were able to travel wherever we felt like going! We went to Europe, Mall of America, North America.... I wonder where we will stop next? Where will this adventure take us to next? Stay tuned... We haven't reached our highest point yet! By: Amberly |
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