Gingerbread Day hijinx

We had a very successful Gingerbread Day at our school! We read the story about the naughty gingerbread boy and how he ran away from the family who made him and some animals along the way. But he couldn't outsmart that wily fox!

Later we baked our very own Gingerbread man, decorated with marshmallows and gummies. And what do you know? The very same thing happened to us! We followed the Gingerbread Man's clues until we found him trying to get a taxi in Miss Heidi's office! But like the fox, he couldn't outsmart us. And he was delicious!

For the parents who've been asking, here's the recipe:

Gingerbread Man

3 1/4 c. flour

2 tsp. ground ginger

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 c margarine

3/4 c sugar

1/2 c molasses

1 egg

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, add all the dry ingredients

2. Add wet ingredients

3. Mix thoroughly until dough is formed

4. Make one large cookie on the tray and decorate as you wish

5. Place in oven preheated to 350F

6. Bake 15 minutes or until golden

Let us know if you try this at home! 

The one where the children learn the value of a dollar...

Okay, not really, but they sure have fun playing with the cash registers and play money in the Dressup Area. For those of you who peeked into our classroom last week, you may have noticed that it was set up like a McDonald's. The children enjoyed pretending to make Happy Meals but they really seemed to enjoy playing with the cash. When the room was changed, we left out the registers and money and magically turned the area into a clothing store. This way we could keep the fun of the money yet still change the setup to prolong the enjoyment of the space.

We call this scaffolding and you'll see it a lot in our 3's class. If the children show an interest in something, we try to keep it fun and relevant until the children's interests change. Sometimes you'll see strange combinations like babies and matchbox cars but if it interests the children, it interests us!

Miss Karen

Just when you thought Halloween was over...

...we pull you back in! I just wanted to show you all the photos we took at our Halloween parties last week. Thank you all so much for indulging our kooky side and letting you child's freak flag fly just before your big festivities at home. We had a great time partying at school and pretending to be someone other than ourselves even for a few hours. As always we had a lot of fun!

Thanks for your patience. Stay tuned for more photos and fun from the 3s class!

Miss Karen

New week, new toys

Remember this toy? It's called a Sit-n-Spin. We put it out in the gym without telling the children how to use it and they found creative ways of playing with it. How much fun was it to watch? Very!

At circle time we are learning lots of important skills. Here Miss J helps a child find her name in a bowl of other names in order to put in on our white board. Name recognition is essential in terms of early literacy.

Here at the free art table we had plenty of wonderful loose parts available for creating the most gorgeous of crafts. What was the most artistic thing these little friends could think of? Drumming on the table with pencil crayons for a full 10 minutes. Hey, whatever floats your boat!

We also have the chalk out at the easels this week. It's fascinating to see the children do art with no intention of bringing it home. They scribble and scribble then erase and move on. It's like having your very own Banksy right here at preschool. Only tidier!

Sometimes our wonderful bubble machine gets gummed up but who cares? Look at the lovely curtain that formed under it! Everyone wanted to check it out...

At school we get painting inspiration from everything and fall is the best for pretty colours and designs. Here we express ourselves with small amounts of paint and Q-tips with gourds as a colour guide.

The toys and games that are out today will stay out for another week then get added to and modified according to how the children play. We do observations as the children go about their day and take note of the activities they enjoy as well as the areas of the room they don't use as actively. With that information we teachers create a learning environment that we can all enjoy. Our class is constantly evolving so keep checking to see what we're up to!

Miss Karen R.E.C.E

Preschool version of the caber toss

Here we have a very creative little guy realizing that the small logs we'd been using to pile up in different ways for imaginative play can be a very effective and satisfying gross motor activity. These photos were taken over several days as he sees that it's great fun to see how far he can toss them. He fills the wagon over and over again, moving them around the yard. When he finds a suitable spot, he methodically tosses every one of the logs as far as he can, collecting them again when he's done. It's pretty cool to see the gears turning while he looks for a good spot where he can throw without anyone getting in the way. We love it when simple things become fuel for discovery!

Miss Karen

Here we go!

Our first week of preschool is all behind us and we're all settling in and getting to know each other and get used to new routines. It has been so much fun learning about you and your children and we look forward to a wonderful year together. Here is the first batch of photos that I took during our first week at school. You'll notice that there are no faces or names attached as this blog isn't private. Photos for this blog will always be taken this way.

In the future these blog posts will include more specific things like lunch ideas, songs we sing in class and more. Just watch this space for new info and keep an eye out on the class whiteboard for when the newest post goes up!

Miss Karen