Utopia Preschool

To prepare for Thanksgiving, we have been talking about what it means to be thankful and have gratitude. The children each made a leaf for our Gratitude Tree, which expresses what and who they are thankful for! We also made two types of silly turkeys this week, using our hands and lots of paint! 

We had a treat this week, Nohea's dad Ian visited to read us a favorite book, Punky Aloha by Shar Tuaisoa. This sweet story talks about the importance of community and helping our neighbors, which is what Aloha is about! To go with the story, Ian taught the children to make paper flower leis. The children weaved yarn through straws and flowers to create their leis. This was a challenge for some of them, trying to get the string through the small hole was tricky, but they did it! After they were able to take their lei home or wear it all day! Thank you Ian for coming in to visit, and for preparing such a thoughtful activity for the children. 

This week we are focusing on the letter A! Mila's mom, Joy, helped us with this by reading us a story about an apple who was learning how to be a friend. After the book, the children used red, green and brown tissue paper to make apples at the Writing Table. The children used glue and crayons to fill up the apple with lots of color. This supports fine motor skills as the children glue and place each piece of tissue onto their paper, great for preparing for Kindergarten.  The children have also been making apple patterns using real apples and paint at the Art Table! The stamped the apple in glitter paint and transferred it onto their paper. This activity helps develop the children's understanding of patterning, color, and cause and effect!  Thank you Joy for visiting us this week and for thinking of such a thoughtful activity for the children.  *If you'd like to schedule a visit to the classroom in November or December, please fill out our Family Involvement Form!  Ut...

This week we put together an ofrenda (altar) to honor and remember our loved ones who have passed away from this life to the next. We read a few stories to teach the children what the holiday was about and prepare them for what we would need to do to get our ofrenda ready. During the week, the children made papel picado using colored tissue paper, hole punchers and scissors. This activity was to decorate the altar, but also supported the children's fine motor skills and scissor skills. The children also used number skills to count how the holes and shapes "multiplied" as they opened up their tissue paper. The children also decorated skulls or calaveras with flowers and foam stickers. We talked about how this holiday is a happy one that celebrates and remembers the people we love.  Finally we put together the ofrenda on Thursday! The children with photos of family got to find a special spot on our ofrenda, while also telling their friends a little about what they remembere...