Monthly Archives: February 2014

Listening to the Rain…

During the cold, rainy, and windy day of February 28th, we opened the door for the children. It was such a great sensory experience for them as they heard the wind blowing, saw the leaves moving on the trees, and felt tiny raindrops splash in through the open door.

watchingtherainn

listentotheraiin

A child commented that the trees were “dancing” in the wind. Another child noticed the puddles on the ground and the teacher pointed out that the raindrops were making ripples in the water. The children were offered clipboards and paper so that they could draw what they saw.

drawing puddless

They chose pencil and blue colored pencil to represent their puddles and made various shapes across their paper. This helps them to develop their symbolic thinking: the concept that a drawing, for example, can represent something else and that they can express their ideas through art.

puddles

Working Together

On February 2nd, a small group in the back room worked together to build a bridge and walk across it. They invited others to join the play and talked about how they were making the bridge long. When they made it to the end of the bridge, they each would shout, “I did it!” As children grow and develop, they go through stages of play. Near the beginning of the school year, the children tended to play by themselves (solitary play) or alongside others (parallel play). We now see the children showing more interest in their peers and interacting more with one another (associative play). We are so excited to see what the children will plan that involves working together!DSCN1893