Winter In The Woods Woodlands
December 14, 2019
We are having such a fun time with this month’s theme, Winter in the Woods from Experience Early Learning. Last week we talked about a bunch of different animals that live in the forest. We highlighted five but talked about many more.
This week we learned about different things IN nature that we come across. The first thing we highlighted was pine trees. With this activity they got some cutting practice in. For the younger kids, we cut things for them. The middle age, we held and guided the paper and let them work the scissors. We teach them how to hold them correctly and that they need to cut on the lines. The older kids were able to cut it out themselves, with a bit of guidance on how to hold them. They forget to keep their thumb UP sometimes. We teach scissor safety, too. They also cut out the four cards with the life cycle of the pine tree. We folded the two triangles and stapled them together. We put the life cycle cards in order on the tree. The last step was to cut the sides of the tree so it looked like pine tree prickles.
We made snowflakes one day. That was super fun because they got to use watered down paint, coffee filters, eye droppers, and glitter! All the supplies were provided in our curriculum by Experience Early Learning, except the paint. We keep a big selection of paint on hand for the MANY art projects in our curriculum. They love using paint. The youngest didn’t use the dropper, we let him use markers and sprayed it with water afterwards. The bigger kids had fun filling their dropper with colored water and squirting it on the coffee filter. Of course, we had them on cookie sheets to contain the water. Some had HUGE puddles of paint but we didn’t worry about it and just let them play in it for a long time. When they were finished, we took the filters and transferred them to a dry cookie sheet with newspaper under it. They sprinkled some glitter on them to give it a bit of a shimmer. We then removed the paper and let them dry on the cookie sheet.
Experience Early Learning always adds fun games into the curriculum. This week we had a math game. The children would use the spinner to find out how many “pinecones” (brown pompoms) they were to add to the tree. They started out by tossing them onto the tree. They had to count out the pinecones then toss them or later just put them on the circles on the pinetree game board. They played it several times throughout the week when they were in between activities. I even left it out for an intro activity when first arriving. We usually just do puzzles or read books quietly for the first thirty minutes to an hour, depending on when they arrive. When they have a game to play that allows them to do it alone, we are able to use it as they arrive. Some games come with a spinner board and some are matching cards. There is a variety to keep them interested each month.
The children choose colored pencils over crayons to color most things. Three weeks out of each month, they have a look and find page. This week was letter P. The younger kids are joining in. We get them to point out all the pictures, not just the ones that start with our letter. It is great to see what they know. The children each get a pretend magnifying glass to find the pictures and letters they are looking for. On the circle are the pictures they are to look for. They punch it out and color those pictures, too. We had an option of using watercolors and paint brushes but we opted to stick with our pencils.
Our prek 4-5 year olds get the MORE Literacy and MORE Math booklets that go along with our theme each month. We try to work on those when we have fewer children OR the others have different activities to keep them occupied because helping them with writing practice is very hands-on and requires a teacher’s constant attention. These booklets have writing practice but also simple reading comprehension activities and matching games. The math have simple addition and subtraction, writing numbers, and many other fun activities that seem more like a game instead of school work. We don’t do all of the activities at school. When the month is over we send home the booklets and allow them for complete the ones that require they cut things at home. It gives the parents an activity book to take places that they need something fun to keep their minds busy or even over the weekends at home.
Our snowstorm painting was the most fun this week. The children are given a bunch of resources in an activity titled Invitation to Create. We give them ideas but don’t tell them what they HAVE to do. For this activity they were given the large blue paper, a small white paper and a small black paper, scissors and glue. We displayed a picture of some trees in a snowstorm and talked about what we saw. We told the kids they could put whatever they wanted on the paper. The kids had help when they needed it. Cutting circles wasn’t easy so we helped with that. After they had everything they wanted on the blue paper, we gave them some bubble wrap and white paint so they could make a snowstorm on top of their picture. I think they did a great job, even if some had help to create more detailed pictures. They learn how to do it when you are willing to sit down and help them but not do it all for them. Listen to how they want it and go with it. Allow them to do as much as they can on their own. But always be willing to help if they ask. Experience Early Learning curriculum allows us to do just that and encourage the learning process with fun activities each day.
I hope you have enjoyed a look into week two of Winter in the Woods. Next week we will be mixing our week with Christmas activities and Winter Gear sub-topics. Which activity did you think was the most fun from this week? Feel free to try these activities with your children. Most can be re-created at home with simple items you might already have. Let me know how it goes.
We are having such a fun time with this month’s theme, Winter in the Woods from Experience Early Learning. Last week we talked about a bunch of different animals that live in the forest. We highlighted five but talked about many more.
This week we learned about different things IN nature that we come across. The first thing we highlighted was pine trees. With this activity they got some cutting practice in. For the younger kids, we cut things for them. The middle age, we held and guided the paper and let them work the scissors. We teach them how to hold them correctly and that they need to cut on the lines. The older kids were able to cut it out themselves, with a bit of guidance on how to hold them. They forget to keep their thumb UP sometimes. We teach scissor safety, too. They also cut out the four cards with the life cycle of the pine tree. We folded the two triangles and stapled them together. We put the life cycle cards in order on the tree. The last step was to cut the sides of the tree so it looked like pine tree prickles.
We made snowflakes one day. That was super fun because they got to use watered down paint, coffee filters, eye droppers, and glitter! All the supplies were provided in our curriculum by Experience Early Learning, except the paint. We keep a big selection of paint on hand for the MANY art projects in our curriculum. They love using paint. The youngest didn’t use the dropper, we let him use markers and sprayed it with water afterwards. The bigger kids had fun filling their dropper with colored water and squirting it on the coffee filter. Of course, we had them on cookie sheets to contain the water. Some had HUGE puddles of paint but we didn’t worry about it and just let them play in it for a long time. When they were finished, we took the filters and transferred them to a dry cookie sheet with newspaper under it. They sprinkled some glitter on them to give it a bit of a shimmer. We then removed the paper and let them dry on the cookie sheet.
Experience Early Learning always adds fun games into the curriculum. This week we had a math game. The children would use the spinner to find out how many “pinecones” (brown pompoms) they were to add to the tree. They started out by tossing them onto the tree. They had to count out the pinecones then toss them or later just put them on the circles on the pinetree game board. They played it several times throughout the week when they were in between activities. I even left it out for an intro activity when first arriving. We usually just do puzzles or read books quietly for the first thirty minutes to an hour, depending on when they arrive. When they have a game to play that allows them to do it alone, we are able to use it as they arrive. Some games come with a spinner board and some are matching cards. There is a variety to keep them interested each month.
The children choose colored pencils over crayons to color most things. Three weeks out of each month, they have a look and find page. This week was letter P. The younger kids are joining in. We get them to point out all the pictures, not just the ones that start with our letter. It is great to see what they know. The children each get a pretend magnifying glass to find the pictures and letters they are looking for. On the circle are the pictures they are to look for. They punch it out and color those pictures, too. We had an option of using watercolors and paint brushes but we opted to stick with our pencils.
Our prek 4-5 year olds get the MORE Literacy and MORE Math booklets that go along with our theme each month. We try to work on those when we have fewer children OR the others have different activities to keep them occupied because helping them with writing practice is very hands-on and requires a teacher’s constant attention. These booklets have writing practice but also simple reading comprehension activities and matching games. The math have simple addition and subtraction, writing numbers, and many other fun activities that seem more like a game instead of school work. We don’t do all of the activities at school. When the month is over we send home the booklets and allow them for complete the ones that require they cut things at home. It gives the parents an activity book to take places that they need something fun to keep their minds busy or even over the weekends at home.
Our snowstorm painting was the most fun this week. The children are given a bunch of resources in an activity titled Invitation to Create. We give them ideas but don’t tell them what they HAVE to do. For this activity they were given the large blue paper, a small white paper and a small black paper, scissors and glue. We displayed a picture of some trees in a snowstorm and talked about what we saw. We told the kids they could put whatever they wanted on the paper. The kids had help when they needed it. Cutting circles wasn’t easy so we helped with that. After they had everything they wanted on the blue paper, we gave them some bubble wrap and white paint so they could make a snowstorm on top of their picture. I think they did a great job, even if some had help to create more detailed pictures. They learn how to do it when you are willing to sit down and help them but not do it all for them. Listen to how they want it and go with it. Allow them to do as much as they can on their own. But always be willing to help if they ask. Experience Early Learning curriculum allows us to do just that and encourage the learning process with fun activities each day.
I hope you have enjoyed a look into week two of Winter in the Woods. Next week we will be mixing our week with Christmas activities and Winter Gear sub-topics. Which activity did you think was the most fun from this week? Feel free to try these activities with your children. Most can be re-created at home with simple items you might already have. Let me know how it goes.
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