Utopia Preschool

Before entering the classroom, Teacher Andrea has started a new routine for the children. She asks each child how they would like to be greeted: a hug, a high-five, or a thumbs up! Andrea shared that she wanted to implement this in the classroom so she could be able to give each child individual attention at least once during the day. She also wanted to model for the children appropriate ways to say Hello! 

This week the sensory table is filled with flour amd baby oil. The children enjoy getting their hands in there and using their creative imaginations. Today, Ryan, Cassidy and Jax were pretending to bake a cake and put some pipettes as candles. Sensory activites encourage the children to describe what they are doing while they play.

Today we exercised our gross motor skills as we transitioned from Group time to potty/washing hands! Teacher Andrea held up the limbo stick as the children practiced taking turns. When the stick got closer to the floor, some children bent down as low as they could, while others figured that they could simply step over it! 

Due to the poor air quality from the fires up north, the children spent time in the school’s gym instead of going outside to play. They enjoyed the change of scenery as they got to run around in an environment with more wide open space. The children bounced, threw, rolled, and even lined up the balls, drew with markers on large pieces of paper that were taped onto the walls, and played “Duck Duck Goose.” We hope the air clears up soon and will keep our thoughts and prayers on those affected by the fires. n

The children tested out the new playdough today. The secret ingredient is pumpkin spice! Dylan made a cookie from  the dough and Violet was using a garlic press to make noodles. Using playdough supports the children’s fine motor and manipulative skills.

Last week, we challenged the children to take photos of RED objects in our outdoor space. The children quickly noticed all the red items and brought them to our photographer, Cassidy, who captured them in a photo. This was an opportunity to learn about a photo’s “subject” and how to hold the camera far and near to their subject. 

During outside time, the children used the wooden blocks to build in the sandbox! They collaborated with each other to decide what other pieces their creations needed. Some children talked about the lengths and widths of their buildings. Lars noted that his house was “much more longer” than his friends’. Brendan and Callum shared that their block building was “taller.” Afterwards, some friends used markers and paper to observe their blocks and draw what they saw.

The children have been increasingly using their imaginations to represent what they are familiar with in reality. Today in the sandbox, the children worked together to dig holes, fill them up with water, and submerge toy animals into the water. When asked what they were creating, the children stated that they were making “an animal pool, where they could swim and get clean and fresh!” Furthermore, the children continue to be more and more imaginative in their detailed artwork. During outside time, Jaxon created a kite and said, “This is me!” right before we flew it around in circles. Later on at nap time, Kennedy drew different figures and pointed out a few of them as “Ellie, Briana, and Isabella...because they’re my best friends.” Briana used various colored markers to draw “a clown to scare my Tatay (her grandpa) because he’s scared of creepy clowns!” The way the children use their imaginations to represent so many different things shows their development in understanding and making ...

During small group Teacher Andrea narrated a story written by Kennedy. As the story was being told, Kennedy used the puppets she made and brought their characters to life entertaining her friends and teachers. Puppets encourage the imagination and creativity as well as hearing unspoken emotions through this kind of play and in a group setting increases participation level.

Happy Halloween everyone! We enjoyed our trick or treating and costume parade today. So many fun costumes!