We read fairy tales and other stories with with wolves in them this week. We also built castles, blew down houses, played logic games, and made spooky forest scenes.
On Monday children built castles with foam blocks. They kept their structures linear, using a taped line for reference and we took photos of each one as it was finished.
On Tuesday, they referred to the photos and re-created their castles using the same blocks, only this time they dipped them in paint and stamped a 2-dimensional version. These are on display in our classroom.
Our other project on Tuesday was using a hair dryer (aka “The Wolf”) to blow down houses made from straw, popsicle sticks, and wooden blocks. The kids were out in the hallway for this, and several were inspired to head straight over to the building area afterward so they could keep the fun going.
On Wednesday children mixed different shades of green paint, used it to cover an entire piece of paper, and then added texture with various tools. Their final step was to glue tree trunks over the top, and there were several color options for them to choose from.
On Thursday, they combined pre-cut shapes to create Little Red Riding Hood and a wolf, and added these to their forest scenes. Their artwork is on display in the hallway.
Other parent-led activities this week were playing a memory game on Wednesday and building castles with sugar cubes on Thursday. For the memory game, children had to match little wooden animals with their homes by lifting the roofs off and remembering which animal shapes were underneath.
For our sugar cube castles, we glued sugar cubes together, creating walls and towers. We added a few cone shaped toppers. Some friends even made little people out of the cubes! These are on display in the case in the hallway.
Around the classroom there were glass rainbow blocks, fairies and dragons at the light table.
In the texture table there were rainbow colored bowls, trolls, and lots of hidden treasure.
There was a modular castle on the building table, along with lots of the knights, horses, dragons, damsels, princesses, and soldiers that were in the texture table last week.
We had some fun logic puzzles out this week – one with houses and the characters from The Three Little Pigs, and one with different ways to build a castle. With a little help, the kids learned how to solve them – and some friends persevered through some very challenging levels!
After having several weeks with no water in the tub, it was fun to have pigs to scrub and water wheels to play with. We have had several requests for more chocolate cloud dough, so that may need to make one more appearance this year!
We put the glue guns away this week and had other supplies out at the creation station. Children could decorate crowns or castles (or make their own creations with what was available).
Putting the glue guns away meant that we also had room for play dough and the kids enjoyed having it out!
There were new puppets out this week – all of them having to do with fairy tales. Perfect for performances or solitary play!
Here are some of the other things your kiddos were doing during their free choice time this week:
During our time together at the rug, we read fairy tales or stories with fairy tale-like characters, danced, learned a new song, and enjoyed hearing about Panda’s adventures.
Hurray for outside time!
Next week is all about rainbows and leprechauns! Will we manage to catch a leprechaun or find any treasure? Stay tuned to find out!
We’ll see you soon,
Lisa & Jelena
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