Thursday, January 29, 2009

Backwards Day!!

we had a lot of fun today with BACKWARDS DAY!! the kids were so excited to wear EVERYTHING they could think of backwards! from clothes, hair, and shoes......it was silly and it made for a great exciting day!!
obviously we are learning about the opposites forward and backward!
this is my little girl showing us her BACKWARDS attire
from backward/forward bowling to back/front puppets......it was a fun day.
for our bowling game, i simply used cups and a beach ball - the kids had a blast
and i think it was a unanimous vote that FRONTWARD bowling is MUCH easier!
you could use any basic items to set this game up....from leftover chip containers, oatmeal containers or anything you have lying around!! I do have to say the beach ball was the PERFECT ball to use for this activity!

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

opposites - over and under weaving

this week we've been learning about OPPOSITES and today we emphasized "over and under".
we did a weaving activity which really worked on the student's small motor skills, and gave them a great sense of ACCOMPLISHMENT.
we discussed going "over" and "under" each piece as they went and they really had a great time with this. many students made 3 or 4 of these.
this is how i set the activity up

i absolutley love watching the children try so hard to make this work for THEM

many of them loved using the tape to help hold pieces in place and others just liked doing it FREESTYLE......

here is one of the students finished products, i think they turned out great and what hard work to get this OUTCOME for them!! remember, with preschool kids it's the process and not the product that matters. they just love to explore and figure how things work and the product doesn't exactly matter to them like it does to us.
allow them to explore but also be a guide for them. talk with them through it, figure out what they are thinking and try not to push them into what YOU want the outcome to be.
most of all.......HAVE FUN!!

what else we've been up to with "Over and Under"

we had a LOT of fun painting OVER and UNDER the entire table. it's funny how if you change one little thing, like the WAY you paint, it gives the children a whole new world to discover!
this was one of the final outcomes - isn't it GREAT!!
for a couple of days this week, we've had water in the messy table. The kids absolutely love exploring in water. i was there to encourage discussion about "over and under", "in and out", "wet and dry", "open and shut" plus much more!! what fun!!