Utopia Preschool

With spring here, lots of little crawly creatures have started to appear! This week we wanted to learn more about them, so we caught and observed them in our new bug habitat! The children made a checklist of the bugs they wanted to find, then checked it off every time we discovered a new one. We plan on drawing bugs and making 3D versions of the bugs we have found. This activity supports their understanding and care of nature, counting, fine motor skills, and problem solving.  Kate and Franco watch a Roly Poly as it travels through a tube in the bug habitat Lorelai draws her favorite bug, a ladybug!  Franco, Jude, Colette, and Kattaleya collected a variety of bug books in the classroom.  They compared the pictures of bugs to actual bugs we found! Kate and Emily pretend with the bug toys in the classroom The teacher found two black beetles and placed them in the bug habitat.  Teacher: What do you think will happen when the two beetles meet each other? Aaron: I think t...

We love asking the children these curious questions! It gets us to see things from their point of view and how they understand the world around them. It also leads to more insightful and interesting conversations about the topic. We suggest asking your child curious questions, especially at the end of their school day!  --- What would you buy with $100?  Kate: Candy. Lot's of candy.  Pamela: I'd buy a golden bed. And golden shoes!  Jude: Maybe a Ninjago set, a Ninjago temple, and 100 Ninjago robot snakes!  Rylie: A lot of toys, like Barbies or LOL Dolls. Chocolate and ice cream.  Donovan: Pokemon cards and a lot of dinosaurs.  Aaron: Spiderman, Batman, Robin, and Mr. Freeze. Emily: Everything. All of the food and the jump houses!  Lorelai: A big, big, big, big, big gumbball machine with 100 gumbballs inside. Fiona: The Earth. So I can live on it by myself. And a mansion outside of my house. Charlie: A cake, that's this big (motions with her hands)...

The children have been showing a strong interest in animals! We found that they had many questions about how they live and what their environment looks like. After reading books and drawing pictures, the children gathered variety of materials to make their animal habitats come to life! This took planning, teamwork, writing and drawing skills, and attention to detail. This ongoing project not only supports the children's understanding of the natural world, but encourages us to take care of our environment because we are all connected. After looking at a book together, Fiona and Franco draw ideas for a rainforest habitat. "There needs to be trees for the birds. And there are vines all around." - Franco After drawing the plans for the rainforest, we used a cardboard box to create a 3D structure.  Rylie and Emily are seen here adding paint to the rainforest habitat, along with paper towel roll trees, green streamers, eucalyptus pods, and leaves gathered from outside. The comp...