Snowmen At Night

This morning we talked about the days of the week and months of the year. We also described the different seasons and focused on the weather, clothing and trees during the winter. The kids also practiced the letter sounds. Before heading outside we talked about shapes and looked for them around the classroom. While outside the kids searched for different shapes on the playground. We found rectangles, triangles, circles and squares!

Our story today was "Snowmen at Night" by Caralyn Buehner. The story described things the snowmen do while we are sleeping. They go sledding, skate, play snowball baseball, drink cold coco, and go to the park. After reading the story the kids listed all the activities the snowmen did at night. Then we made a list of things we do at night...brush our teeth, put on our pajamas, read a bedtime story and go to bed.

For art today the kids made snowmen out of marshmallows. They used their fingers to pinch the marshmallows and put them onto of the glue circles. They also drew two eyes and a carrot nose on the snowman's face.

The kids have loved learning about snowmen this week. Next week we will be our last week talking about winter....then hopefully it will warm up! 

The Snowman

This morning during our morning circle we started a science experiment. The teachers froze 6 water balloons. After cutting off the balloons we were left with 6 round balls of ice. The class helped make two snowmen with the ice balls.

 We stacked them on top of each other. Then we made predictions about which one will melt the fastest...the snowman inside the classroom or the snowman outside. Then we had to wait until the end of the day to see the results.

Today we read the book "The Snowman" by Raymond Briggs. Before we read the book the class watched the movie The Snowman. It had no words so we had to describe what was going on while watching. The snowman went on an exciting adventure with a little boy. After the movie we read the story. The class helped fill in parts that were left out of the book. Then we described the different parts of a snowman. A snowman has 3 round circles for his body. He has two eyes, a carrot nose and a mouth. He can have a hat, scarf and stick arms.

For art today we made a snowman face. The kids used cotton balls to make his face puffy like snow. Then we glued on eyes, a carrot nose and a blue hat. The kids described their snowmen to their neighbors when they were finished.

After eating lunch we looked at our inside and outside snowmen. The inside snowman had started to melt and the balls of ice were getting smaller. The outside snowman had two ice balls still stuck together. There was no water in the bottom of the outside snowman because it was to COLD outside. We learned that ice melts faster in warmer weather...that is why we don't see snowmen in the summer!

Hopefully it will be warmer tomorrow so we can play outside a little longer. Don't forget your hat and gloves!

Snow Man or Snow Woman

Everyone was so excited to be back at school after a long weekend! This morning we started talking about Snowman.

 Ms. Michelle also came to work with us today! First she had a big bin of animals. The kids each pretended to be an animal they found. They moved like the animal, crawled through a tunnel, went over a foam roll, climbed on top of a stuff pillow and went under a table. The kids were dinosaurs, dolphins, turtles, elephants and giraffes! Next we made a snowman. He was missing all his important winter clothes. The kids each used a do-a-dot to add eyes, nose, mouth, buttons, arms, scarf and hat. While wait for a turn the kids practiced snapping, buttoning, and zipping....which are needed skills when we wear our winter clothes!

Our story today was "Snow Woman" by David McKee. In the story the little boy Ralph wants to make a SnowMan and the little girl Kate wants to make a SnowWoman. So together in their backyard they make both a boy and girl snowperson. They put boy and girl clothes on the snowperson. When the kids woke up the next morning the snowpeople were gone...so they decided to make a snow bear together. After reading the story we talked about using he, she, his, and her. The kids practiced describing boys and girls in pictures using the correct pronoun. Boys are he and girls are she!

For art today the kids made their own snowman...or snow woman. They glued three circles together to form the body. Then they glued their face to the top circle. Using crayons the kids gave their snow person eyes, mouth, nose, arms, hat and scarf. When describing our snow person we used either he or she.

The kids were very hungry and excited for lunch today. Everyone was also a little sleepy by the end of the day. Before we packed up to go home we sang snowman songs. Get some rest tonight because tomorrow will be another fun day!

One Mitten

Today it definitely felt like winter outside! During our morning circle the kids talked about the days of the week and months of the year. We also described the different seasons. Right now it is winter! It is cold outside and there are no leaves on the trees.

Our story today was "One Mitten" by Kristine O'Connell George. In the story the little girl has one bright yellow mitten. She waved with her mitten, gave high fives with her mitten and even pet her cat with her mitten. While petting her cat she saw something bright and yellow under the cats belly...it was her other mitten! With two mittens she could clap and cover her eyes. At the end of the story she goes outside to play with a friend in the snow. After reading the story the kids helped decide what special clothes to put on Froggy in our classroom. We listed the different winter clothes and described where the clothes go on Froggy's body. A hat goes on our head, mittens go on our hands and pants go on our legs. Now Froggy is all dressed and ready for the winter weather!

For science we experimented with ice. First we made prediction if ice would melt faster in our hands or in our mittens. Then we handed out mittens or gloves to some of the friends in the class. Everyone held the ice in their hand or their mitten. The ice started to melt very fast in our hands and made a puddle on the table. The ice in the mitten started to melt very slowly. We learned that our hands are very warm and help the ice melt faster. When we wear gloves it helps protect the ice from our warm hands. So....its important to wear gloves or mitten when playing in the snow or building a snowman for 2 reasons: to keep your hands warm and to not melt the snow.

We ended the day with lunch and some songs. The kids have started to really like the "Peanut Butter" song! Have a great weekend and I will see everyone on Tuesday morning!

Winter Clothes

This morning we searched for different colored snowflakes in the Touch and Feel Pool. Some were soft and others were sparkly. During our morning circle we talked about the calendar and practiced putting the months in the correct order when they were mixed up. We also practiced counting how many days are in January....all the way to 31!!

Today we pretended it was a winter wonderland with Ms. Michelle. She had obstacle course set up full of imagination!!  First the kids went "sledding". The friends took turns pulling each other on a sled. Then they slid down a ramp. They could slide on their bottoms, or the more adventurous in our group slide on their tummies....and some even dared a flip!!  Next, one friend pulled another on a scooter board. At then end they had to help build the class igloo. The kids loved sledding...they were laughing and screaming the whole time! At the end the kids helped Ms. Michelle make snow. She had lots of different objects hidden in the snow and the kids had to find them. They searched for hearts, stars, letters and rings.

Because it was so wet outside from the morning rain, we went on a quick walk around the neighborhood to get some fresh air. The kids noticed all the Christmas decorations were missing from the houses.....as they jumped in and over the puddles and watched the squirrels!

Our story today was "Froggy Gets Dressed" by Jonathan London. In the story Froggy wants to go outside and play. He gets dressed and then realized he forgot his pants. So he goes inside, puts on his pants and other winter clothes and heads back outside. Then he remembered he forgot his shirt and jacket. He had to go back inside to put on his shirt and jacket. When he got back outside his mom tells him he is still forgetting something...his underwear! By the time he gets back inside to get dressed again he is so tired that he goes back to bed. After reading the story we listed all the different clothes we wear in the winter. Using a picture of a person we labeled the body part where we wear each clothing item and why we need it when we are cold.

For art today we made winter hats out of paper plates. First the kids colored their hat. Then they added cotton balls at the top or at the bottom. The kids each selected three snowflakes to glue onto their winter hats. The kids were pretending to wear them around the classroom to keep their heads warm.

After eating lunch, we passed out party hats and little oranges and the kids all sang Happy Birthday to Selwyn. She turns FOUR today!!  We ended the day singing some of our favorite songs. 

Snow Dancing at The Speech Garden

Today was another fun day at school!  We started the day with Wiki Stix in the Touch and Feel pool.  We named, and patterned, and coiled, and braided different colors.  Then as we cleaned up.....we uncoiled and unbraided.....which is great fine motor exercise for little fingers!

It was MUCH warmer on the playground today.  The kids enjoyed seeing their Weekday friends for the first time all week.....and compared to earlier in the week....it felt like spring outside!

Today's story was Snow Dance by  Lezlie Evans.  This is the story about a group of friends who really want it to snow....so they make up a snow dance before they go to bed.  And when they wake up the next morning....they find out it works!!  They enjoy a fun-filled day of sledding and making snowmen. 

Although I think we might have missed our chance at snow this week, we class Snow Dance.  Each child helped to come up with a special step that they thought would increase our chances of a blizzard.  We stomped five times, spun around three times, clapped two times, jumped up four times, and chanted "WE WANT SNOW" three times!  We gave it our very best shot.....now just a little waiting to see if it works!!

For art today, we used a mixture of shaving cream and glue.....with just a touch of blue coloring.....to paint snowflakes.  There's nothing special about this mixture while it's wet....but when it drys....it's puffy and soft!  Kinda like you would imagine a snowflake feeling.....without the cold!

Enjoy your weekend.....the kids are worn out from their first week back to school!  We are so excited to see what next week holds!

Snowflakes

The day started with a super fun surprise in the Touch and Feel pool....ICE!!  The kids had lots of fun trying to hold it in their hands and coming up with words like "slippery" and "freezing" to describe how it feels.  We even had a contest to see who could melt it in their hands the fastest.  This made for some really cold fingers for morning circle....but it was well worth it!

Playground was a big hit today.  It was the kids first trip outside since coming back to school from Christmas, so somehow everything seemed brand new!  And....to the kids delight.....under the swings, where water usually puddles, were all the balls....frozen in ice!  The kids went to work immediately trying to crack the ice and free the balls.  It kept them entertained, and cooperatively playing, the whole time.

The book today was The Little Snowflake by Steve Metzger. This story is about a little snowflake who dreams of becoming part of a snowman.  We followed his journey out of the clouds, onto the wings of a goose, and finally landing on a rock.  The children nearby are working to build a snowman, but they don't see the little snowflake on the rock.  When they are finished, they realize that the snowman is missing something.  They use the little snowflake as a twinkle in the snowman's eye....and he is so happy to have a special place!

For our language activity, we contrast things that are little and things that are big.  The kids came up with lots of good ideas to add to the chart.....and we even talked about some different words that can mean the same things.....like tiny and small and huge!

For art today, we divided into stations to complete several activities.  One group did rainbow writing.  The word "snow" was written on a black piece of construction paper in chalk.  The kids had to trace that word, naming each letter as they went.  Then after they selected another color of their choice, they could trace over it again....or attempt to write it on their own.  The second group made hand print snowflakes.  We already learned that each snowflake has six sides....so we had to paint our hands on the paper SIX times.  The kids had fun counting....and painting your hand can be kinda ticklish....so lots of giggles from this group.  The third group learned a fun new song about snowflakes on the iPad.  They all took turns and moved easily from group to group!

Today was a great day.....we can definitely tell that the kids are getting back in a school routine!  Going outside certainly helped get out some energy.....and with tomorrow's weather even warmer....the playground should be ice free!!