Utopia Preschool

This afternoon we learned a new game: Dominoes! The children took turns matching the pictures on cards, as well as how to fit the pieces together. The children were so engaged that they wanted to play for almost 2 hours!

For today’s afternoon snack, we had tortillas, hummus, and veggies on the menu! The children continue to build up their fine motor skills as they use the tongs to pick up food and the plastic knife to spread hummus. Emery, Grayson, and Samuel F., who were at the table, remembered to politely ask one another to, “Pass the snack please!” Grayson noticed that the snack was going in a particular direction. He stated, “After Emery is Samuel, then after Samuel is me! It’s like a circle — I mean a triangle!” The children have been very observant and vocal about their daily experiences at preschool!

The children have been looking closely at our plants and flowers inside and outside the classroom. We talked about how plants drink water through the roots and how they also need sun to grow. This afternoon, a few children took time to look at the discoloration of leaves in order to tell if our plants needs water.

Kennedy’s mom, Shannon, brought in ingredients to make reindeer food! The children scooped two scoops of oats, one small scoop of sugar, one scoop of red glitter and one scoop of green glitter into their red pouch. Thank you Shannon for sharing this fun and festive activity with us! “Sprinkle on the lawn at night. The moon will make it sparkle bright. As Santa’s reindeer fly and roam, This will guide them to your home.”

We have been playing a game outside called the Xs and Os game. The children draw symbols and shapes on the ground that correspond to a certain action! They are developing their gross motor skills as they walk on the Os and hop on the Xs. The children also came up with their own symbols: Jellyfish means you get stung and then you must step on a Heart to take a break.

The children had so many creative and imaginative ways to play independently and with friends. In the bike area, Sydney took care of her flat tire at our gas station, Dylan and Colin went river rafting assuring the teacher they were wearing their life vests, and Lars started building an ice cream shop police station with Callum .

Since we don’t have tunnels for our cars and trains, the children have been building their own using blocks. This started the discussion of where we have seen tunnels. After talking about tunnels we started to discuss road signs. The children named the signs and placed them around the tracks while they played. It’s amazing to see the children connecting real life through play!

It’s the time of year where we bring out our warmest jackets! Yesterday afternoon, we compared all of our different types of outerwear and all their unique features. We noticed that some had fuzzy hoods, a few had velcro on the sleeves, but almost eveyone had zippers! Then we made a chart showing how many types of jackets we wearing that day.

In the afternoon, we finally had a break from the rain. The children discovered all kinds of play with wet chalk, painting water on walls with chalk drawings, shadow puppets nd teamed up to make a sand castle island in the sandbox.

This week we are working on writing stories for our puppets. The children are able to use their handmade puppets or borrow a puppet from the classroom as characters for their story. Narrating their story out loud supports language development and an understanding of literacy.

Some of the children found recycled pieces of paper from the October Bake Sale for the big kids of the school. They noticed the pictures of baked goods and began to sell these items to their friends. Ellie, Ingrid and Briana were busy as chefs and servers, while Robbie and Colin ordered the food! They enjoy pretending to take on different roles and jobs while sharing the space and materials with their friends.

Our mornings are so busy with conversations with friends, outdoor play, PE, art activities and sensory play! Right after lunch, we take the time to rest our bodies and take a break. The children can read books, hug a stuffed animal and get cozy in their beds. It also helps having a friend or teacher nearby for some quiet company.

Today the children played with salt in the sensory table! Many of the them initially thought that they were playing with sugar, so we began talking about the difference between salt and sugar; how sugar is sweet and salt is not. We also talked about how it can be used for cooking!  Providing different experiences for sensory play can help encourage children to explore and make connections between their play and real-life experiences. Below are some observations the children made about salt: Aiden: It feels soft.  Zack: Restaurants have real salt and it looks like flour. Isaiah: It’s white.