This week was a whirlwind of all things unicorns, mermaids, fairytales, and fantasy! All of our activities this week came from the land of make believe, which we absolutely love! Our fun fact for the week is: Unicorns have been scientifically proven to exist. The Siberian Unicorn is estimated to live 35000 years ago in Europe. From fossils found, the Siberian unicorn is described to look much less like a beautiful horse and more like a hairy rhinoceros -but, because of its singular horn, it technically is a unicorn. Learning and DiscoveryOn Tuesday, for our group activity, we did a fun group "Fantasy"-themed MadLib. A MadLib (if you don't know what it is) is a story with a few blanks in it (For example: "The princess went to __________ ). The preschoolers were tasked with filling in those blanks (with names, places, numbers, etc.). At the end of the school day Mrs. Anne read each group's MadLib to the whole class. They were hilarious! On Wednesday we made crowns! We practiced our fine motor skills by first making our own zig zag lines! Then we had to cut our zig zags and top off our crowns with decorations. These were part one of a two day "Royal Self Portrait" project. We can't wait for you to see the results! On Thursday we drew self portraits in crayon and then painted them with water colors. Once we finished with those, we made some "fantasy" backgrounds with purple, blue, and green paint which we will soon use for our royal self portraits. Free TimeWe had so many great free time activities this week! On Tuesday, at the Art table, we made "Jack and the Beanstalk" pictures out of multiple loose parts, while at the Language table we went on a scavenger hunt around the room for different Fantasy-themed puzzle pieces. Once we found all the pieces and put the puzzle together, we got a special prize! At the Science station we made Fairy Potions by mixing vinegar, baking soda, food coloring, and of course... GLITTER! (See the "Hands on Activity" section if you want to do this activity with your family!) At the Art table, on Wednesday, we made beautiful fairy wands out of Popsicle sticks and some sparkly decorations. At the Language table we used story sticks, which are wooden sticks that have a variety of images on them, to create our own fantasy stories! Our teachers documented these stories and Mrs. Anne read them to the class at the end of the day. At the Science station we counted out pom pom "fireballs" for our paper dragons and learned "more than" and "less than" concepts. On Thursday, for our Art table activity, we cut and assembled cute paper dragons, using bubble wrap to print scales on them. At the Language station we created more stories for Mrs. Anne to read using our story sticks again, while at the Science table we launched puffballs from catapults and tried to hit our castles. Fire away! For our Gross Motor activity, we did a "Jack Be Nimble" obstacle course. We had to balance on beams, crawl through tunnels, and of course... jump over "candlesticks"! Outdoor AdventuresWe love playing outside... rain or shine! Candid MomentsBirthdays!Happy Birthday Hudson! Teachers of the Week
Hands on Activity-Fizzing Fairy Potions
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My oh my, what a whirlwind trip around the world! This week, we learned all about many different countries, their cultures, and some of their traditions. It is always so fun to discover people, and places, and things that make our world so amazing! Our fun fact comes from the continent of Africa. Did you know that a THIRD of the world´s languages are spoken in Africa?! It is estimated that 2000 DIFFERENT languages and dialects are spoken there! How cool is that?! Learning and DiscoveryOn Tuesday, for our group activity, we practiced following directions to complete multiple activities in a row. It was a fun challenge! On Wednesday we made a craft that originated with the Aboriginal people. This type of art is said to be the oldest ongoing traditional art form in the world! After using paint to make our hand print on our paper, we made various colored dots around our hand, exploring the traditional aboriginal dot painting style. On Thursday we carefully cut, taped, and rolled our choice of patterned paper to create a Chinese paper lantern! Many years ago in China, Thin paper or silk was wrapped around their lantern to prevent the wind from blowing out their flame. Even today, the Chinese will make beautiful lanterns to commemorate the history of their people. These lanterns will be hung in our classroom for all to see at our winter party later this month! Free TimeWe had so many great free time activities this week! On Tuesday, at the Art table, we learned that every country in the world has their own unique flag! We got to choose a few of our favorites and draw them ourselves! At the Language table we practiced identifying our letters, and spelling the names of different countries, while at the Science station we matched colored symbols to colored sections on a world map, and then we learned about why those symbols represent those sections of the world. At the Art table, on Wednesday, we glued colorful paper and then used different materials to create patterns, such as strawberry cartons, yarn, and rollers. This is representative of an African Art from called Kente. At the Language table we made our very own passport, and at the Science station we made maracas using plastic eggs, spoons, tape, and a variety of loose parts like beans, beads, and rice. For our Gross Motor activity, we learned how to make paper airplanes, and then practiced throwing them into different holes in a map of the United States! On Thursday, for our Art table activity, we cut and glued paper, cotton balls, coffee filters, and more to create a little Eskimo! At the Language station we practiced our color matching using the world's continents and landmarks of places around the world, while at the Science table we learned how to use chopsticks, and practiced using them to pick up different sized and textured items. Outside, for our Gross Motor activity, we played a game that originated in Israel called Five Sticks, where five sticks are placed close together, and we raced through, jumping over the sticks. The sticks gradually got farther apart and it got more difficult each time to not step on the sticks. It was a great challenge! Outdoor AdventuresEach day this week we were able to bundle up, and head outside and have some fun! Candid MomentsDecember Birthdays!Happy Birthday Paige, Lincoln, Ross, Lucia, and Elena! Teacher Spotlights
Hands On Activities- Scandinavian Heart Baskets
SurveyHappy (early) Thanksgiving! This week, the preschoolers learned all about the origin, history, and traditions of Thanksgiving. Did you know that the first Thanksgiving was a three day long feast celebrated in 1621 by around 50 pilgrims and 90 Wampanoag Native Americans? They didn't have the traditional cranberry sauce or pumpkin pie- but they did have oysters, duck, eel, venison, and fish (aren't we glad that we have mashed potatoes and rolls instead?!) Thanksgiving actually didn't even become a nationally recognized holiday until 1863 (under President Lincoln) and we are grateful it did! We hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving, filled with food, fun, and family! Learning and DiscoveryFor our Tuesday group activity, we made paper pilgrims using our OWN faces. We glued together different pieces of paper to make these cute creations, and then dictated to our high school friends what we are most grateful for. We love everyone's fun responses! On Wednesday, we practiced following a recipe to make our own quick bread! We poured, mixed, and shaped our dough into magnificent loafs, after which they were baked by Mrs. Anne in the oven. We also made our own butter (by shaking cream in a container) that we got to lather on our bread before we ate it. It was so tasty! On Thursday, for our group activity, we passed around pictures of traditional Thanksgiving foods (such as Turkey, pumpkin pie, etc.) and picked which ones we liked best. We then took those foods and glued them to our paper plate to show what the perfect Thanksgiving meal would be to us! We also got a chance to talk about what other foods our families like to eat for special occasions. We have so many unique family traditions! Free TimeWe had so many fun Thanksgiving themed activities this week! On Tuesday, at the Art table, we practiced creating patterns by making Native American headbands, while at the Science station we did a science experiment involving pouring baking soda into cranberry juice. It got so fizzy and bubbly! Meanwhile, at the Language table we found foods that began with certain letters and placed them in the "mouths" of pilgrims made from paper bags (for example, TURKEY starts with the letter "T" so we put it in the mouth of the "T" pilgrim) . On Wednesday, at the Art table, we made adorable turkeys out of toilet paper tubes. At the Science table, we practiced classifying foods into different groups. The teacher would place different pictures of food on the table and we would have to pick all the foods that had certain characteristics (like "vegetable", or "green", or "dessert"). At the Language table we used cinnamon sticks to write Thanksgiving themed words (like "family" and "turkey") in trays of sweet smelling spices. For our outdoor Gross Motor activity, we did a bean bag toss. On Thursday, at the Art table we painted paper plate turkeys. At the Language table, we counted the letters in our name and stamped our letters onto turkey feathers . Outside, For our Gross Motor activity, we did a Thanksgiving plate obstacle course! Outdoor Fun!It's starting to get a bit more chilly outside, but with our warm coats and our rubber boots we're staying toasty warm while playing on our playground! Candid MomentsTeachers of the Week
Hands on Activity- Gratitude Pumpkin
SurveyThe theme of the week was Pets! We had a blast learning about all the different animals that our friends have as pets, and that we wish we had as pets! Our fun fact for the week is that over 30% of families in the US have a dog as a pet! Learning and DiscoveryFor our group activity on Tuesday we built pet homes! With a few of our friends we began building a home for our pet using a variety of supplies. We talked about what different pets need in their house, personalized their homes, and gave our pet a name! All throughout this week we were able to continue building our pet's home during free time. On Wednesday we had a game day! We had many rotations of cognitive games, including one where Mrs Anne tricked us with an optical illusion! We also practiced counting spots on a dog and making shapes using rubber band boards. Thursday we used lots of strips of colored and patterned paper to create a mosaic pet. We chose our pet shape and glued paper strips down in rows so that our pets were ready to be cut out! We can't wait to see how they look! Free TimeThis week we had a lot of super fun activities during free time! Along with all our table activities, we enjoyed painting, building our pet homes, and enjoying time with our friends! On Tuesday at the Art table we made a fish bowl using paper, glue, colored rice as our pebbles, paint for our fish and bubbles, and we even got to name our fish! At the Science table we did a super cool optical illusion activity where we had one paper with our pet, and another paper with our pet's bed. We taped each paper on one side of a straw, and when we twirled our straw really fast, it looked like our pet was in its bed! At the Language table we practiced spelling our pet words using letter tiles, and then we got to color our pet! For our Gross Motor activity we would roll a dice, and then hop that many steps on the animal footprints to get to the end of the path! Wednesday at the Art table we made a paper bag pet using different colors of paper and textured materials. At the Language table we built pet words and learned about different animals that we call pets using magnet boards! At the Science table we learned about different types of pet food, and guessed which pets eat which food. For our Gross Motor activity we pulled a sock from a bin and then had to get to the doghouse using different movements, and look inside to find the matching sock! On Thursday at the Art table we made construction paper pets which was super fun to pick which pet we wanted to make, and at the Language table we did a pet color sorting activity! For our Gross Motor activity continued our activity from Wednesday with the socks in the doghouse. At the Science table we made pet biscuits using wheat germ and baby food! Outdoor Adventures!You may notice that our tree stumps are looking a little sad! We are currently in the process of trying to get some replacement stumps from the contractor who is removing a large number of trees for the city of Hillsboro. Hopefully soon we will have some new stumps. :) Candid MomentsNovember Birthdays!Happy birthday Iza and Grant! Teachers of the WeekOur teacher spotlights for this week are Ozi and Tara! Random fun fact: They both had birthdays during Pets Week!
Hands On Activity-
Well, it's another short week here at Little Jags- but we had no shortage of fun! We learned all about families this week, along with some "self help" skills that we can implement throughout our home. This week's fun (and kind of strange) fact is: The root word for "family", comes from the Latin word "Famulus" which means "servant". Isn't that so crazy?! We hope that no one is getting treated like a servant in your house! Learning and DiscoveryOn Tuesday, for group activities, we learned multiple self-help skills! We rotated through stations, learning how to set a table, work our zippers and ties, and fold some clothes. So, if you ever need some extra help around the house - just ask your preschooler, because they are now experts. On Wednesday, we read a story called "Giraffes Can't Dance" by Giles Andreae, which was about a Giraffe named Gerald who felt like he couldn't dance because he was too big and wobbly. But, with a little encouragement from an unlikely friend, he learned that he doesn't have to be like everyone else to be a good dancer. After reading the story, we practiced following directions by making our own "Gerald the Giraffe" by cutting, tearing, and gluing paper. This is a good reminder for everyone- Don't be afraid to be unique! Our class giraffes certainly are! Free TimeDuring free time, on Tuesday, at the Art Table, we made family "trees" out of toilet paper rolls and pipe cleaners. We then put beads on our pipe cleaner "branches" to represent the people in our family. At the Language table, we did family themed assessment, while at the Science table, we played a family matching math game. On Wednesday, at the Art table, we made finger families. We finger painted lines and blobs to represent our family members, and then added eyes, hair, etc. to look like them. We practiced spelling family themed words (like MOM, DAD, and BABY) at the Language Table, while at the Science table, we practiced matching together crazy socks. For our Gross Motor activity, we completed an obstacle course that culminated in crawling through a tunnel. Candid MomentsTeachers of the Week
Hands on Activity- Family Hand Prints
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