The caterpillar group has been playing with a lot of animals lately. During their play, I've observed the children making their own homes, making their own zoos, and saving the animals from danger!

I thought I would come up with an activity where the children could save the animals in a different way. I got an empty box and taped string from side to side inside the box. I put all different types of animals in the box, then have the children use any kind of materials they wanted, even their hands to save the animals. I also added music that was the sound of animals so it can be realistic.

When the caterpillar group were ready to try this activity, these are the observations that were made

• Some children thought it was going to be easy while using only their hands. Until I told them they couldn’t touch the string with anything and if you do the animals should fall then you should try again. 
• One child tried using sticks instead of their hands, they said it was a bit harder trying to save animals with sticks. 
• While two children used the sticks they tried using the edges of the box to help the animals get up. They were surprised when they found out the edges could help them out easier.
• Another way a child tried saving the animals was to put tape on sticks to hold the animals so they wouldn’t fall off. ​​

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​After the children tried those ways, they wanted to make their own animal rescue by changing the strings around in the box and change the animals from what I had previously put in the box to sea creatures such as sharks and octopuses'. 

It was amazing to see how creative the children can be using their own imaginations when it comes to saving animals!

​- Stephanie

Last week, the Caterpillars experimented with splat art!
 
We’ve noticed that the Caterpillars love to paint, especially on large pieces of paper, so we decided to offer them a painting experience where they could experiment with height and practice their artistic and mathematical skills. 

We pushed the tables aside and rolled out a large piece of paper on the floor. Then, each child chose two sponges that they wanted to use for this experience and then sat back down in their seat. One at a time, I called up each child to take their first turn. 

They dipped their sponges in paint and then carefully climbed onto the chair. Next, I brought out the meter stick and held it next to the child who was standing on the chair. I asked the children if that child was taller or shorter than a meter stick. The children all yelled, “taller!” and I announced that the sponge was going to be dropped from a height a little taller than a meter. When the child was ready, we all counted down from three. 3… 2… 1… SPLAT! The child would let go of the sponge, letting it fall on the paper and then retrieve the sponge to uncover the splat that it formed. 

 
After each child had a turn, I gave the Caterpillars some free time to make any types of splats that they wanted, but I did ask them to keep two questions in mind:
 
What does the splat look like when you drop it from the chair?
What does the splat look like when you drop it from the ground? 
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I offered a ruler and a measuring tape to the children who were interested in measuring how long their splat was. Three children continued to take turns standing dropping their sponges from the chair, while the other three decided to finger paint instead. 

Throughout this experience, the children practiced taking turns, sharing the space and created some colourful splats! It was definitely worth the messy clean up! 

- Vita

As the lunch shift was coming to an end, and I was getting ready to head home one of the Kinders stopped me to tell me that they noticed my leg was broken so I couldn't leave until he checked it out. He brought over some paper and started treating me by wrapping the paper around my leg and saying that he was doing my surgery.

While he was playing, another child joined him and said my arm is broken too and she rushed over and began covering my arm with a piece of paper. Watching them both, a third child said that he is making a bandage for the wound. They talked to each other and made blood out of red paper to paste on my thigh and then immediately placed the bandage that he made over the blood. One child thought that I needed an ice pack as well so she started folding papers and taped them together and gave it to me saying that it will give me relief. At the same time, another child was making list of his patients that needs to be treated. I told the children that I needed to go home to my Mom, but the doctors had something else in mind for me, "hey you need to stay here some days for recovery" one child added. After 'a few days past', the doctors said that I am better now and ready to go back home. 

The children worked together to create bandages, blood, and ice. Through play, the children are learning to work as a team
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- Jasbir