This week we got ready for the Lunar New Year holiday this weekend by reading stories about the Chinese Zodiac, as well as books describing how different cultures celebrate around the world! The children made red lanterns and dragon puppets to welcome in the Year of the Dragon. Through these art activities, the children followed step by step instructions, cutting and taping skills (fine motor), and focus and attention to a task.
Apollo shows off his completed dragon puppet!
Mia colors her dragon's tail using crayons
Asher uses glue to stick on his dragon's head, tail, and feet!
Hunter carefully paints his red lantern
Arden, Madeline, and Luna Bella working on lanterns
Liam writes his name on for the top of his lantern
Travis uses red and gold paint on his lantern
Caden carefully cuts the middle of his lantern, while Emily shows Jaeda how to make her cuts a little longer.
Donovan adds feet to his dragon!
Sherleen Kate practices her scissors skills
Arden carefully adds paint to her red lantern
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With the on and off rainy weather, we donned our raincoats and rainboots and took small groups of children out to explore! We used our senses to make predictions of what we might See, Smell, Hear, Feel, and Taste on the rainwalk, and discussed where the rain came from and why it was there. The children were able to play in puddles, and collect acorns and debris that had fallen during the storm. Afterwards, we made rain pictures using cotton balls and pipettes to mimic the rain falling from the clouds! This activity supports their understanding of the natural world, cognitive development skills like prediction making, and sensory play!
Pointing to the rain clouds approaching!
Off we go on our walk! Regine, Kara, and Madeline are ready.
Geronimo and Madeline found a eucalyptus pod in the big yard!
Jump, jump, jump!
Christian, Mikey, and Bryce
"Look Teacher, an acorn!" - Amet
Jaeda finds a small puddle to step in, while Emily and Arden watch
Donovan discovers a drippy spot coming from the building! "It's like a shower!"
Luna Bella runs through puddles outside!
Caden and Jaeda reach for a drippy spot on the side of our school
Playing in the rain is fun!
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After the walk, the children used cotton balls and watercolor paint to mimic the rain falling from the clouds.
Jaeda draws herself under the rainclouds using a permanent marker
Sherleen Kate and Arden drew themselves with markers and pretended they were getting wet under the rain!
Kara's rain cloud has one long drip
Mateo's paper looks just like a storm!
Making observational drawings after our activity helps the children make sense of their surroundings and experiences. They are able to test out their predictions and interact with the materials in a new way.
