Making Mother's Day memories:
The children were very excited to get to work on their Mother's Day cards! Each child took time to carefully paint his/her card cover with colors and designs chosen especially for his/her mom. Next, they set to work on scripting and writing the message and signing it. Lots of love went into each step. Later in the week...we started baking! The children were delighted to secretly bake the banana bread to give to their moms. They mashed and stirred and then we popped the loaves in the oven. Finally, the children labeled their loaves and wrapped them in tissue paper - ready to be delivered to their wonderful moms! It was a joyful focus for our week.
Our 'not-a-boxes' continue to transform:
The children have continued to add on to their 'not-a-boxes', transforming them with every addition. Some children painted their boxes while others added new materials such as googly eyes, tooth picks and tissue paper. It is terrific to watch the children's imaginations soar as they manipulate simple boxes into a variety of structures and creatures.
Play - Creating their own unique games:
As our unit focusing on the power of play and its possibilities for learning draws to a close, it is rewarding to observe children creating their own games and imaginative play scenarios with/from the materials in the classroom. Some children repurposed games, such as a child who created a matching game using multiple dice and a racing dice board. Other children took small boxes and created dice out of them. They used the dice to create a game with the large (not-a-)box in our classroom. Children also continue to create fantastical play inside and around our large box. It is interesting that the box has not become one thing but rather it is a prop for many different types of play. Another day, a child took the mirror and stones we have had in the classroom all year and invented a creative game that involved sliding the stones so that they jumped across the board and attempted to knocked the other stones off the board. Several children took turns trying this fun game out! Finally, children reimagined how to use the mirrors - to help them walk backwards around the room, reflect lights onto the walls and ceiling, and to pretend they were video cameras.
Play - Transforming a Book by Acting it Out:
In Music Class, Ms. Swartley, connected to our unit on play by focusing on the 'play' that is involved when dramatizing a familiar story. First, she read the children The Three Billy Goats Gruff with the understanding that afterward the children would be able to act the story out. Next, Ms. Swartley asked the children if they had any suggestions for new characters they could add or ideas for changes they wanted to make to the plot. The children then created a character list and chose parts. Some children chose to be in the audience. The set was simple with only a wooden xylophone serving as the bridge the troll would hide under. The children were able to act out the story freely and to respond to their fellow actors. There was time for two performances and it was fun to see the similarities and differences in each one. We will continue to 'play' with this story next week and see what evolves as the children become more familiar with this process.