April showers and May flowers were definitely a part of our experiences this week at Small Friends! Thank you for sending flowers so that we could celebrate May Day – it was so much fun!
In the spirit of May Day bouquets, we had silk flowers and vases at the texture table.
Waffle block flower and animal builders were out on the building table.
In the water tub there were colorful discs and magnetic wands.
The acrylic builders at the light table could be used to make letters of the alphabet, or whatever shapes the kids wanted to make.
The creation station was where we did our project Monday (keep reading), and then continued to be busy all week.
All of our Painted Lady caterpillars are in their chrysalises. We carefully moved the coffee filter they are attached to into a larger habitat so that they have a little more room to spread their wings when they emerge.
We miss our sweet chicks, but it was also really nice to have Coco and Scarlet back in the classroom!
Here are some of the other ways children spent their free time:
Our parent helper projects this week were all about bugs and flowers. On Monday our parent helper guided the children in making “bug hotels”. They used materials at the creation station, and some also went outside to collect additional natural items.
Our other activity Monday was playing a Butterfly Bingo game. We learned some pretty cool butterfly names like Zebra, Peacock, Blue Cracker, 88, and Piano Keys.
On Tuesday the kids used Model Magic, toothpicks, google eyes, pipe cleaners, and craft foam to make bugs for their hotels. There were also some foam bugs they could add if they wanted to. Their bug hotels are out in our hallway display case.
In the hallway children used regular sized pattern blocks to build bugs – some that matched a picture and others that they made up. Then they used giant pattern blocks to make HUGE models of their bugs!
On Wednesday we decorated paper cones to wrap around our beautiful bouquets.
Thursday we completed the first step in a special gift for moms :). No peeking!
We also did a flower matching/building activity. Matching activities like these are a great way to develop children’s visual discrimination and spatial awareness skills. These skills will come in handy for letter recognition and reading!
During our time together at the carpet we read stories about bugs and springtime. We also started chapter books about Mr. Putter & Tabby. We played songs with the sticks and practiced the Chicken Dance. We heard from the last three friends to take Panda home, and celebrated two birthdays!
Here are some action shots from our time outside:
Monday is PANDA DAY and we will continue to have Panda activities in the room all week. We’re working on some special things for Mother’s Day, and getting excited for our Painted Lady butterflies to emerge. Our weeks for the rest of the school year will be a combination of themes (dinosaurs, the ocean, summer/camping) and favorite toys/activities. Lots to look forward to!
We’ll see you soon,
Lisa & Jelena
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