Bon Voyage!

We started the day with our sensory and fine motor centers.  There were three centers set up in the classroom.  First, there was a letter find activity in the water beads.  The kids can't really decide if they love the water beads or hate them.  It's definitely a strange sensation!  Next, there were stress balls to make.  The kids took balloons and filled them with rice.  We talked about how when you are feeling angry or nervous, squeezing the balls helps us feel better.  The last activity was to make sensory water bottles.  The kids filled water bottles with water, glitter, oil, and other objects.  Some things floated in the water and other things sank.  But, when we shake them up.....everything goes in every direction!                 

 

Ms. Abby was here today with centers for kicking a ball, hockey, and t-ball.  The kids rotated through the centers in small groups and took turns.  Lots of fun....on a beautiful sunny day!

 Today's book was Toy Boat by Randall de Seve.  A little boy has a toy boat. He made it out of a can, a cork, a yellow pencil, and some white cloth. The boy and his boat are inseparable, until one day when the wind pushes the toy boat out into the wide lake. Alone now, the little boat must face fierce waves, a grumpy ferry, a sassy schooner, and a growling speed boat. How the little boat misses the boy! But if he is going to survive, he must figure a way to do it on his own.

During language circle, Ms. Laura taught us the three main parts of a sail boat.  The hull, or the bottom of the boat, the sail, which catches the wind and helps the boat move, and the mast, which is a straight pole that holds up the sail.

For art, we used corks, rubber bands, toothpicks, and foam flags to make our very own boats.  The kids followed directions to assemble the boats and practiced using our new boat vocabulary.

But....the thing about boats.....is that you need water to really know if they "work"!  So.....we took a short trip to the park to experiment with our new boats.  There is a tiny "river" in the park....and thanks to the recent rain, it actually has some flow to it.  Ms. Tiffany placed all the boats in the water and we watched as some moved fast, and others moved slower.  Some boats got caught on the rocks, and others seemed to steer right around the rocks.  When the boats started to "get away", the kids were adamant that we should get them out.....so that they could take them home and experiment more!  It was a fun activity.....and not one complaint about walking to the park and NOT getting to play on the equipment.