What fun week we had! We were so busy with all our Valentine’s Day projects AND with the start of Panda going home with each student (more about Panda below). We started our Valentine’s projects on Monday by having each student decorate a gift bag to collect their Valentines from their classmates on Wednesday. There was an array of things to choose from: ribbons, beads, heart shaped doilies, flower petals, sparkly pipe cleaners, markers and of course a trusty glue gun to put it all on there!
At the second table on Monday the students practiced their pencil grip. The kids used a wooden pencil-like stick and their alligator fingers to hold the stick. Their two fingers not holding the pencil were holding a pom-pom. They could color or write their names using the pencil and the black paper turned into beautiful rainbow art!
At the art table on Tuesday the glue guns were back to make a decorated heart magnet! Red or white buttons, colorful gems, and a heart shaped jewel were used in the students design, with a strong magnet glued on the back.
At the math and science table, the kids did an all time favorite activity – making volcano explosions! There was baking soda and vinegar, with sprinkles to add on top!
On Valentine’s Day at the art table the kids made love potions with colorful beads, gems and colored water, stickers for the outside of the bottle! An easy and super fun project.
And the highlight was the second table where the student’s decorated bags sat waiting for them to hand deliver the Valentines they worked hard to make for their friends! Each student walked with the parent volunteer to place a Valentine into each of the students artfully decorated bag. The bags were stapled at the top and the kids waited until they took their bags home to open them up. It is hard to wait but they all did a great job!
On Thursday at the art table the students painted a heart on a tile in red, pink and/or purple. These are now in the display case in the hallway.
At the second table on Thursday the students put their hand into an ABC feely box to pull out an item, name it, and then find the first letter of the word on the board in front of them. Letter sounds can be tricky but they all did so well.
Fuse bead hearts were all the rage at the creation station. It takes patience to put all the beads on one by one! The teachers then ironed the beads to fuse them and the kids got a colorful work of art to take home! Some started it on one day and finished it the next.
At, the other half of the creation station, there was chocolate play dough that smelled good enough to eat! Thank you Teacher Lisa for making it! Many delicious treats were baked!
The light table was a good spot for stacking some red or clear translucent blocks. Or to play an imaginary game with some unicorns and heart shapes.
The building table had magnet rods and balls for Monday and Tuesday and on Wednesday we brought out the ABC Zoo with fun letters, animals and letter sounds, and a hot pink minivan!
At the texture table we had gold buttons, sparkly hearts, gems, hedgehogs, some ladles for scooping, containers for filling…
A paper airplane interest sparked some hallway flying on Tuesday! All bolts were accounted for before take off 😉
And finally – the Panda update! Panda and all his things has started to go to your homes. Each child gets Panda for an overnight visit. Panda has his own backpack, blanket, a rolling suitcase with dental floss, tooth paste and a toothbrush, a panda vest for the student to wear if they’d like and a binder. The binder has a copy of the book When Panda Came to Our House by Helen Zane-Jensen. There are blank pages at the back of the binder that each family fills out with some details of Panda’s visit. There’s room for the kids to draw or glue a photo onto the page. When the student brings Panda back, they tell the class about the visit the next school day during story time. The student can take questions or comments from their classmates. It is great practice for talking in front of a group, taking turns, raising hands, etc. So far, Panda is really enjoying the visits. The students are absolutely ecstatic when Panda goes home with them!
Now…back to the regular blog content! The water tub had rubber duckies, scrub brushes, cups, tongs and red and white gems to search for.
Around the room: lots of great playing! Luckily our veterinarian arrived on Thursday, just in time for many, many cats that had to be seen and lots of shots given! Phew! Building, puzzles, magnets, bug builders, and so much more!
We celebrated a birthday, tried to mimick a picture, did yoga, some dancing and of course read lots of books!
Outdoor time….
We had such a great Valentines/Friendship week and we hope your student enjoyed these special activities. See you Tuesday when we will have more Friendship fun before moving onto our Fairytale unit!
Warmly,
Teachers Jelena and Lisa
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