We Love Blue!!

The kids are enjoying our color weeks.  They love Process art work (where there is no specific outcome or expected product) and could explore with the paint for long periods of time, whether it is on paper or just swooshing it around on the table top.  So, when I saw their Blue Pictures from yesterday all dry, I had to hang them up.  They talked about each one as I hung them, how some had butterfly prints and others where just finger paintings.  It didn't matter, at all, what they looked like to our adult eyes, in their eyes they all were masterpieces!!

 We did mitten art today.  It was basically a gluing project.  We let the kids "paint" on the glue and then go to town with the blue paper, tissue paper and pom-poms.  Of course the painting of the glue was the most fun!!

Lil Bit was a bit annoyed that the "paint" was sticky, but that didn't stop her from  finishing.
She spent a lot of time picking sticky tissue paper off her fingers, then squishing it between her fingers again and then prying it off again... it was funny to watch.

 One finished mitten.

Today, I wanted to talk about Winter as a season.  With little ones the concept of Seasons is pretty hard to grasp, but since we have talked about Summer & Fall, I thought it was important to talk about Winter too. I looked on line for a long time to try to come up with some concrete ideas to help them understand, but couldn't really find anything for such little ones.  So, I came up with my own idea.  I put a whole bunch of Summer Clothing and Winter Clothing in a sack.  I had 2 boxes, 1 for Summer and 1 for Winter, the kids picked out a piece of clothing and put it in the appropriate box.  We talked about how long sleeve shirts kept us warm and cozy when it was cold and it was (usually) cold in Winter, so we mostly wore long sleeve shirts in winter.  Then we talked about short sleeve shirts and shorts being more for when it is hot, which is typically during Summer.  You get the idea :)

Before we started, I had them try to guess what was inside the bag... I am trying to get them to be comfortable making inferences and guesses.  A skill that will hopefully be so natural to them when they begin school, that it will carry into not only their social interactions, but academic as well.  So, we looked at the bag, listened to the bag and felt the bag... making guesses each time as to what could be in it.  I heard pillow, (it was a pillowcase and I was impressed because she used what she knew to make that inference), toys (Santa's sack), and mittens (from our Magic Bag yesterday).  Each child used what information they already had to try and make an accurate guess, I was impressed.  As we continue, this skill will become easier, especially since their vocabulary will start to expand each time they find something new in the bag.

I used to have a girl and boy bear, but I am missing the boy one, so we used the girl for summer because she was bare pawed :) and in a sundress and then just put a winter jacket, with mittens, in the other box.  We talked about the differences between the 2 seasons, focusing on being warm and cold and how clothing helps us to stay warm, or cool us off.

Scamp enjoyed pulling the clothing out of the bag

She needed a little help, but we gave her words for each piece of clothing and where it went.
The more times she hears words, the larger her vocabulary will become.

Little Man could not contain himself during this game...
He was bouncing all over, and could NOT wait to get his hands in the bag!!

I left the Mitten Game from yesterday out today and the Season  Clothing Bag out and both were favorite games today.

See I did it!!
The little ones LOVED putting the mittens on and off, that was their game.
If I sat with them, they would help me find the match, but they enjoyed practicing the much more fun skill of  on and off!!

 We sometimes forget how important everyday life skills are to the little ones in our care.  I know we are teaching everyday, putting on coats, hats, shoes, etc... using the bathroom, wiping noses, washing hands... manners, putting dishes away, using our utensils... these are all skills that we don't even think about.  But, putting out real live things for them, to practice on their own with, can be beneficial also.  Having over-sized gloves, socks, jackets, etc... out for the kids to put on and off easily, will help them when the time comes for, "I do it!" because for 3 of my little ones and I, that time is right around the corner :)