pattern matching on the light table

Many children come into my program not knowing what a pattern is or how to create one out of loose materials. I noticed that after a few days of being offered a tray of glass florist gems, starfish, and sea glass the children worked really hard manipulating the items but without a real sense of purpose. 


Since I can't be in every area all the time (I wish I could clone myself) I decided the activity could use a little structure. My solution was to trace a few starfish and gems into a simple pattern on a piece of transparency paper and leave it on the table for the children to work with. 

I wish I could have been there to document the finished pattern, but alas, it is what it is. 

storytelling with three dimensional illustrations

For this activity, I asked the children to begin by drawing a picture with a black marker.

We looked at their drawings and discussed the shapes they made. Then we checked our "Beautiful Stuff" collection for objects that were similar in shape and glued them on poster board remnants (another shout out to my coworker Heather and her dad who procured these superbly sturdy cast offs from his work). 


Meanwhile, I asked them to tell me a story about their drawing. I purposefully asked them to tell me a story at the end instead of first because sometimes the children find it difficult to illustrate their ideas after the story because the image in their minds is so complex they shut down. I feel I will have plenty of time to challenge them again later. 


Here are several examples of the children's work:


V's illustration and story:

"It's a house. Claire lives there, in Manteno. It's my cousin. Claire's my best friend and she plays with me the most."


H's illustration and story:

"It's a robot monster. Once the monster was going to blast off into space. Then the monster took a girl that was in space and took her to jail."
- 
Some new children to the program did not grasp many of the concepts I was asking them for but they worked diligently and described their picture to me, which is fine, too


T's work and description:

"Mine had a flower on it and buttons on it."


C's work and description:

"I'm making a beach party. I decorate it."


E's work and description: 

"My Mommy."


The end! 

"Can I put a lot of color in this?" -Coloring rice

We were fortunate enough to be able to order a huge sack of rice for the center so I added some to the sensory table. For the first two weeks of class the children poured and stirred. Today, though I thought it was time to jazz it up a little bit by adding some color. 

To begin, I set a bunch of bowls on the table each with a corresponding color. The children added rice and water color as they saw fit and stirred and stirred. 

The more color they added the deeper and richer the color got. 

Who could blame them for wanting to add the whole bottle? I did have them stop when the color started to puddle because I want the rice to dry so I can put it back in the table or use it for another project.

Honestly, I've never met a child who didn't love to make something colorful. They are so enthralled by the instantaneous effects of swirling around some paint. The action is soothing and the results are always interesting. Some children even chose to view the colors through a magnifying glass: 

 After we colored the rice the children begged to mix the rice, so we did that next. 

I can't wait to use this rice in some collage work. 

The end! 

Crayon and blow dryer experiemnt

I learned about this project from my colleague Heather who said she saw it on Lisa Murphy's (the Ooey Gooey Lady) Facebook page. Heather had the children's product hanging in the hallway and several of us teachers and staff were standing around it and admiring the beautiful result. I had to try this in our room too! 

I decided before hand to separate the colors into a rainbow pattern. I had a lovely assistant volunteer to help me sort the crayons. Each board had one or two colors. 

I think I used every crayon we had and glue gunned them to a canvas board. Then I showed the children the boards and told them we were going to be applying heat using a blow dryer. I asked them what they thought would happen to the crayons. They were convinced the crayons were going to blow up.

As cool as that may have been, the crayons did not explode. They did however create beautiful drips that the children agreed seemed like blood. 

And finally, the results! 

Row Your Boat in Pairs

I like this more physical version Row Row Row Your Boat, because it allows children to partner up for a whole body experience. 

I just have them sit crisscross (or anyway really) and they rock each other back and forth while we sing away until we are tired. It's pretty soothing and as a bonus the children's natural desire to move is being channeled.


The end!   

New year, new journals!

One of my goals this year is to inspire the children to draw and write in the journals on a daily basis. I don't really want it to be "ok everyone sit down and journal what I tell you" kind of thing although sometimes I may do this.

Mostly, I'm hoping to use them as the children build or create or tell stories in as a natural part of their day. To do this I'm trying to find a special location for their journals that they can have quick easy access to on a moments notice. They do have cubbies but as winter approaches cubbies are stuffed with backpacks, coats, hats mittens and other miscellaneous items that I'm afraid they will be damaged. I was hoping to find paper trays at the thrift store this summer because at several dollars a piece, the price adds up quickly.

In the mean time while I sort out this problem, I have taken the children's photos and had them printed and laminated to serve as the cover of their journals. To begin I asked them to draw a picture of themselves to serve as a base for other self portraits later this year. Here is a sample:

When I asked M, who is four, to tell me about her drawing she said, "My hair, my fingers, my feet, my hands, my teeth, my eyelashes, my tummy, my arms, and my legs, and that's it!"

The end! 

patterns on the light projector

I filled up this clear Ikea container with an assortment of colorful transparent objects and worked with the children to make patterns. 

First though, I let them explore on their own and they dumped objects on the projector in their haste to touch and see everything at once:

Then I explained how we had to place the objects with purpose and notice the effect it made on the wall projection, and how we could organize the materials to make patterns:

These were the results: 

Images from the projector are a lot more colorful:

Some dialog from the children:
K: If you put this one on top of this one the reflection is orange.
K: No, don't put that one there it doesn't look nice. 
D: Sprinkle it all over the place! Oh, it's getting more black. 
K:Can you hand me those squares?
D: Those aren't squares, those are angles. 
Ms. Erin: Rectangles?
D: Yeah. Rectangles.