Utopia Preschool

Happy New Year!    Welcome back everyone! We hope everyone had a relaxing and wonderful Christmas and New Year. Many of the kids returned to school with great new ideas and ready to jump into new activities! Here are a few pictures of activities the kids are working on and documentation to go along with them: Floam-tastic!     Our class has been interested in exploring texture and expanding on their creativity through sensory activities. This month the teachers introduced a new item to discover by setting up a table with floam! This allows the children to build on the previous skills learned with other sensory activities (play dough, rice, water). It is also a great way for children to express themselves verbally and nonverbally. Abby- “It feels good, but rubbery” Emily- “Sticky! It feels good too!” Sara- “Sticky and gooey!” “Look at my snowman! First the large, then the middle, then the small.” Malea- “Flat” Rika-“ Look at my snowman, Arkpark! I...

Tape Exploration in the Block Area November 5-25, 2013 Over the past several weeks, the children have shown an ongoing interest in using masking tape in the block area. Initially, Sage used the tape to create clothing for an “Animal Fashion Show” and the other children were drawn to her ideas. The interest in the tape continued over several weeks and led to a wide variety of creations and experiments in the block area. As their interest continued, the children added materials to the tape, including pom poms, pipe cleaners, sequins, animals, and much more. Over time, the block area evolved into a Christmas party, a Birthday party, a playground with swings, a trap for “bad guys” and a spider web. The children also created “armor” for the dinosaurs, clothing for the animals, and traps for “bad guys”. Some children utilized all of the materials, while others only used certain items for their creations. The children experimented with different methods of manipulating the ...

Happy Halloween!       Today was a very special and exciting day! We had our Halloween parade! Thank you to everyone who was able to make it, we had a lot of parents and grandparents that joined us! Here are some pics:  Zoo Mobile On Wednesday, October 30th the Zoo Mobile from the San Francisco zoo came to visit our school. They brought animals that may be found in a city such as a: tiger salamander, turtle, gopher snake, and ferret. We were able to touch all the animals except the tiger salamander. Having the animals visit supports the following skills: Taking turns, Impulse Control,Shared Use of Space, and Curiosity and Initiative. Lemos Pumpkin Patch        On October 22, 2013, we took our field trip to Lemos Farm Pumpkin Patch. The children were very excited and had a wide variety of experiences throughout th...