Today we continued with our community helpers theme and learned more about firefighters. Our story today was This Is The Firefighter by Laura Godwin. This story outlines all the things that firefighters do and the ways that they help people. The kids had lots of comments during the book about things that they saw yesterday at the fire station.
For art today, we made 5 Little Firemen using the kids handprints. They added a round face and a red hat to each finger, and then we drew a hose for them to hold. The kids enjoyed using Q-tips to make water coming out of the hose.
The highlight of the day was crowning everyone "Firefighter" for the day! Each kiddo got a red firefighter hat to take home. We pretended to put out fires and practiced the saying the firemen taught us yesterday....."Don't hide, get outside".....which will help keep everyone safe if there is a fire.
This morning during morning circle we talked about all the things we might see at the Fire Station! The kids were so excited that this day was finally here....they could barely contain themselves! So.... after a brief review of the Out and About rules, we headed outside. Before we could get on our way, we had some Ms. Abby time.
Ms. Abby is concentrating on hockey this week. There were four stations set up and the children all rotated between the stations. One station was passing a ball between partners with the hockey stick, one was shooting the ball into a goal, and another was hitting the ball around a series of cones. The last one was a little easier because the sticks weren't so big. In this station the kids used a golf club to putt a ball into a ring. The sticks were difficult to manage.....and the kids needed reminders to use both hands.....and they were super excited for the Out and About.....so there was a lot of complaining during Ms. Abby today!
Immediately following Ms. Abby, we started our walk to the Fire Station. As we walked, we talked about some of the differences between police and firemen. The kids were full of questions about the things they might see. When we arrived at Fire Station #2 on South Boulevard, we rang the doorbell, but the fireman opened the garage to let us in. There sat a big, red fire truck! There was so much to look at that I'm not sure the kids heard anything the firemen said. This truck was a ladder truck, so it had lots of ladders on it to help the firemen reach really tall buildings. The kids got to see the nozzles where they put the water and even got to climb inside the truck and take a look around. We had just finished a group picture when the loud radio went off and the firemen got called out to an emergency. We got out of the way quickly, and watched the truck speed away to help someone in the community. Lights and sirens flashing. Super stressful for the teachers, but super cool for the kiddos! We thought that our visit might be cut a little short since the fire truck was gone, but another one pulled in and those firemen were eager to help finish the tour. This second truck was a hose truck, so we explored the long, big hoses. The kids took turns holding the hose and trying to turn it on and off. The firemen showed the kids all the protective gear they have to wear when there is a fire. It looks kinda scary once he has it all on, but it's super important to remember that firemen aren't scary....they help keep us safe. The kids all got to climb through this fire truck too....and the second time through they really took some time to look around and talk about what they saw inside. We took some more group photos....but this time the kids all sat and stood on the bumper of the fire truck....which they loved! Our visit and tour lasted longer than we could have imagined and the kids all did wonderful! THANKS to Fire Station #2 and all the parents who came along to support us!
Tomorrow is a regular day! We've had a busy week and tomorrow will be a good chance to catch our breath and get back on schedule before the holiday rush next week! It's just that time of year!
We started the day in morning circle talking about all the things that we might see during our super special visit from the police officer. The kids had a lot of things to share....and as we headed outside we had lots of things to look for on our list!
Officer Wade was waiting outside in the parking lot for us. He was dressed in his police uniform and the lights on his car were flashing. We sat on the sidewalk while we talked about the ways that police help keep us safe in our community. If you get lost, you can look for a police officer to help you. Police keep people safe from the bad guys. They can help direct traffic if there's an accident or a broken traffic light. Officer Wade let us listen to his police radio. It was hard to understand because police use a lot of numbers when they talk. He let us look at his hand cuffs and see how they work. He also showed us a bright yellow vest he wears if he has to stand in the road so that cars can see him. After that, we headed over to the police car. That was the definite highlight for the kids! We looked at the front of the car where the word POLICE is written really big so that other cars will know. We looked at the back of the car where there were some numbers to help Officer Wade know that it's his police car. Then....he let the kids climb in the backseat! There are bars on the windows so that even if you roll the windows down....the bad guys can't get out! After everyone had a turn....and it took some convincing to get some of them OUT of the back of the police car.....Officer Wade turned on the siren. He only did it in short little bursts so it wouldn't scare us, but it sure was loud. He explained that it was loud so that the other cars could hear it and get out of the way of the emergency. Then, before he left he gave everyone a police badge sticker and a coloring book with crayons. THANKS Officer Wade! The kids LOVED the visit!
Our story today was Police, Hurrying! Helping! Saving! by Patricia Hubbell. This is book all about how police officers help the community....and the kinds of transportation that they can use....and the things that they wear and have that let us know that they are the police. The kids were able to help us read the story because they had learned so much from the Officer Wade visit.
For art today, we had two special projects. The first was making our own police badges. The kids took shiny gold paper and glued on white badges, then we glued that to some blue paper. Police officers use the color blue a lot! We wrote everyone's name on the badge as "Officer" and let the kids pretend to do some of the things that police do.
Next, we made license plates with each child's name on it. The kids had to pick out the letters that they needed for their name. We talked about how each car has a license plate....and that they are all different. It helps the police know who is driving what car when they are out in the community trying to keep us safe.
What a fun day! THANKS again to Officer Wade for a great visit! Tomorrow is another fun day...with a super fun visit to another community helper....the fire station!
We started the day with a pool full of feathers! And before we started our morning circle, they were flying EVERYWHERE! It looked like a whole flock of birds had been living in our preschool room!
After a brief, and super chilly, time on the playground, we headed off to our very last music session of the year! Ms. Gretchen and friends always have so many fun things for us to do, and today was no different. Ms. Hannah had a new instrument that looks and sounds like a guitar, but doesn't have strings. We used it while we sang about community helpers, like dentists, doctors, and vets! Each child was given a paper bag dog to help sing a song about puppies at the vet. We sang about movements that different animals do....stomping like elephants, barking like dogs, slithering like snakes, etc. We ended with a poem about all the fun instruments we had played during our time in music. Most kids liked the shakers the best....but the tambourine was also a BIG hit! Thanks to Queens College and Ms. Gretchen for a wonderful partnership. The kids love it!
Today our story was Good Dog, Paw by Chinlun Lee. Paw is a busy dog. Every morning April, his owner, gives him his ten-point checkup and then scoots him off to the office where she works as a vet. Paw has an important job there-singing reassuring songs to all the animals as they wait to be seen. But his best song he saves for April at the end of the day about how much he loves her.
The language activity for today was all about body coverings. People have skin, but animals have different things that cover their bodies. Dogs and cats have fur, which is kinda like hair. Fish have scales because they need to be able to swim fast and fur is too heavy. Birds have feathers because they are so lightweight and they need that to help them fly. It was funny to think about animals with different kinds of coverings. What if people had feathers? What if dogs had scales?
During art, we used the feathers from this morning to make pet birds. Yes....another pet for your household! The kids could choose from all different colors....and many of them opted for multi-colored birds. They glued the feathers on the bird and then we talked about ways we can help to take care of our animals.
This morning there were animal puppets in the Touch and Feel pool. The kids pretended to be the vet and give them a check-up. They looked in their mouth, listened to their heart, and used band-aids to fix the cuts and scraps.
During our morning circle, we talked about the weather last night. It was very cold, and some of us even saw snow! The kids were very excited to share their own stories about the weather.
Ms. Abby came today, and since it was so cold we decided to have the first part of our session inside. The kids rotated through four different centers that were all targeting throwing and catching. They practiced catching a scarf in the air, throwing a ball at the target, and throwing bean bags in a hoop. Then, we braved the cold weather and headed outside to shoot some baskets. The kiddos were supposed to stand on a marked circle and shoot the basketball, but several of them decided to practice their dunking skills instead!
Our story today was "Sally Goes to the Vet" by Stephen Huneck. In the story Sally was playing with her friend Bingo the cat. She wasn't paying attention and ran into a tree. Her owners took her to see the vet at the animal hospital. The vet looked in her eyes, ears and mouth. The vet listened to her breathe, and her heart beat. Then the vet took x-rays to make sure Sally didn't break any bones. At the end of her visit the vet told her to be careful, rest, and take her medicine. After reading the story we compared and contrasted people doctors and vets. They do many of the same things!
For art today we made a fishbowl with a pet goldfish. First the kids used sponges to make the water inside the fishbowl. This was very important because fish need water to live. Then we glued stones on the bottom so the fish could hide and play while they were swimming in their bowl. The kids used their hands to make a goldfish inside the fishbowl. Then they added an eye to their fish. They turned out so cute....and the best news.....these are VERY low maintenance pets!
During lunch the kids talked about pets they have at home. Not everyone has a pet, so they also talked about the different animals they would like to have. Beware.....your children have big ideas regarding the animals they want living in your houses!
