Dramatic Play
We are still very interested in fish and talk about going on boats, so this area turned into a fishing pond with a fishing boat! We loved rowing the boat, dressing up as fishermen/women, and trying to catch the different magnetic fish on fishing poles and in the nets. We played a lot together in the boat, pretending to be out at sea. We filled the boxes with our tools and all the fish we caught. We even sorted the fish by color and type.
Block Area
We have all been interested in trains, bringing them from home and talking all about them, so the train set is back! We have loved building different tracks together, and taking turns driving our trains around. We have been practicing great teamwork while building and helping each other. The arches are also getting lots of use, mostly as tunnels for the trains and busses. We still love the airplanes and helicopters and often fly them around.
Quiet Area
We have been really interested in the babies lately, pretending that they need lots of things. We often put blankets on them and give them pacifiers or bottles but we also have been reading to them, taking them for walks and giving them toys. We still love the tee pee and reading books together on the "blob."
Nature Area
The new view finders have been very exciting! We have been looking at all the different animals and are fascinated in how they work. Some are more nervous to look inside, but everyone is still very intrigued by them. We even brought them to the dramatic play area and pretended to use them like binoculars!
Art/Literacy
We worked on our fine motor skills, patience, and focus trying to string beads. The strings will eventually become a hanging art piece. It was harder for some than others, but we kept trying! We also have been making lots of paper creations. Joe and Alex like making "bats" by rolling up paper and hitting the balls around.
Gross Motor
The rocking horse came back and we have been enjoying riding it. We have also been sitting on the mattress to wait our turn and pretending to be on a ride. We have been doing lots of "wrestling" on the mattress rolling around on each other. Joe and Aria pretended to fall asleep, and then wake each other up over and over.
Cognitive Area
We continue to be enthralled with the bristle blocks, often spending quite a while building independently and together. We have been very creative with our ideas of what we make. Joe made an airplane shooter, Finn made lots of different vehicles and Alex made a plane that converts to a car. The new letter and number pieces have been lots of fun on the light table. We enjoy finding the different letters from our name and sorting them into color groups.
Music Area
The pianos came back, inspired by our interest in sound and playing music together. We have enjoyed playing them along with the shakers and rain sticks. Bo and Reza have been experimenting with playing the pianos with different objects. The scarves are also back and we have loved running around with them covering our face. We pretend to be ghosts and play peek-a-boo. We also have been dancing with them and watching what happens when they twirl around.
Outside
With the storms mostly gone, we have been outside a lot! The sandpit is always a hit, with us creating lots of different games to play together. We often take turns filling the trucks and buckets and have been making lots of "food" Aria, Joe, an Alex pretended to have "Animal Power" (I still do not really know what it means) and went around finding and feeding animals. The mud kitchen was filled with some rain water and we had fun playing in it, adding different dirt, rocks, blocks and trucks to it. We've been exploring the creek bed and looking for bugs in the rocks. We have found that the stumps are fun places to sit and find it hilarious to all sit together! Joe figured out how to spin it while still on. The climbing wall has been used lots. We have been trying to climb up the slides and think it is funny when we fall and slide back down.