Utopia Preschool

This week we turned our Dramatic Play Area into a clothing store! The children added price tags to the clothes, cut out receipts, and helped style each other with new hats, jackets, and bows! Some of the children decided to open a “boba shop and Jamba Juice” next door to provide drinks for customers. “Just like at the mall!” according to Dylan.  We asked the children what we should name our store and a few of them mentioned ”Nordstroms!”

The block area was busy with thoughtful creations today!  Lars built “a big parking garage” : Isaiah and Aiden worked together using tracks, blocks, road signs, balls, pom poms, and gems to connect 2 different structures!: Brendan used different blocks to create a “cemetary that has a security guard to make sure people arent racing in the cemetary”:

Today we had the opportunity to visit our neighbors at Alma Via. The children sang “Welcome to Alma Via” (a twist on our good morning song), “Little Rabbit Foo Foo” and practiced our dance for our perfomance tomorrow. The children also made necklaces and a giant Happy Easter sign for the people of Alma Via. The children truly enjoy going over there and visiting with the residents. 

We are continuing to practice for our Spring Dance this week! One of our favorite moves is spinning around with a partner. Here, Teacher Linette and Ingrid showed the group how to count to 8 as they spun around.

Today our soon-to-be graduates visited the Kindergarten classroom! They read the book Pete the Cat: Big Easter Adventure by James Dean and Kimberley Dean. They then sat with the kindergarteners and decorated their own easter egg bags! The children each had a chance to practice writing their names on their bag, drawing and decorating them with stickers. The children also enjoyed reuniting with their old Utopia friends that are now in Kinder!

Today, Teacher Sharon prepared a movement game using balloons and pool noodles. She challenged the children to carefully hit it around the gym as high as it could go while also sharing space with their peers. This simple game develops their motor manipulative skills as they grasp, aim, and swing the noodle, as well as an awareness of safety and space.

We have a new house for our outdoor area! The teachers set up the new house across from the old one  with the sides open so that they can face each other. This new set up has attracted many friends who normally do not engage in dramatic play. Today some friends played “Family,” “Disney cruise,” and enjoyed opening and closing the shutters on the window. Thank you so much to Teacher Stephanie’s Mom for donating the house to us! 

Due to the rain this morning, instead of having outside time the Panda and Koala groups each had the opportunity to have some fun in the gym. They kept busy with various activities such as exploring different ways to throw, kick, and roll balls, playing the classic game of Duck Duck Goose, and testing out how fast they could run around in the big open space. In addition, they excitedly showcased some stretches and exercise moves as seen in the photos below of Theo in the table top stretch and Matteo doing a one-handed push up. Even with the larger space of the gym, some of the children still gravitated towards staying off to the side where they could draw and practice spelling their names. With all the different activities they engaged in, the children showed enthusiasm, teamwork, conflict resolution, and their continuing development of social skills overall.

This week we are exploring tempera paint with pipettes. We are dropping the paint down the paper and thinking about why the paint drops down as well as what happens when we mix colors.  These awesome visual art pieces are hanging up in the corner on top of the cubbies. Come see how unique each one is!

We have been practicing everyday to get ready for our spring performance! Today, Teacher Linette taught us a new move that required the children to high five a partner with two hands. By practicing this move we were able to observe the children’s coordination and awareness of their peer’s body. It was also really exciting to see if they could high five their partner with a satisfying CLAP!