Thoughtful Thursday

Benefits of Rough and Tumble Play

In her article, "Rough and Tumble Play 101," Frances Carlson points out the reasons to support big-body play in early childhood programs:
Through the (very) physical interactions required in rough and tumble play, children are learning the give-and-take of appropriate social interactions.  Successful participation in this play requires children to become adept at both signaling and detecting signals — a social skill they will need and use throughout their lives.  When detecting these signals, they are learning to read and understand the body language signifying the play should come to an end.  The play also requires children to alternate and change roles.  Sometimes one child chases; at another time the child is chased.  Because this give-and-take mimics successful social conversations and interactions, the social roles practiced and learned in rough and tumble play provide children with the social knowledge needed for future relationships.

When children use this big-body play, the intense physical exertion of rough and tumble play also supports cardiovascular health.  Through their involvement, young children get the moderate-to-vigorous physical activity needed for optimum physical health.  And, because rough and tumble play is so physical, children get many of their vital touch needs met through the play.  Because the preschool period is a critical period for children to develop both physically and emotionally, rough and tumble play for preschoolers is invaluable.

Workshop Wednesday

Counting Apples


Setting: Small Group, Math Centers

Materials: red pom-poms, red sticky dots, construction paper, Sharpie, laminating film, basket, strawberry hullers

Directions: Laminate construction paper and cut out tree shapes, one tree per child in your small group. Write a different number on the bottom of each tree trunk with a Sharpie and place the corresponding number of red sticky dots on the tree. Place a basket of red pom-poms on the table and have students place the correct number of “apples” on the trees using a strawberry huller. The strawberry huller incorporates fine motor exercise into this activity.

Extensions:  Change it up by switching apples for leaves or acorns. Instead of writing numbers you could use  a die. Children roll the die and place that many objects on the tree. Simple, yet so many ways to use!

Transition Tuesday

 

APPLE TREE

This is the tree

With leaves so green.

(make leaves with fingers outstretched)

Here are the apples

That hang in between.

(make fist)

When the wind blows

(blow)

The apples will fall,

(falling motion with hand)

Here is the basket to gather them all.

(use arms to form basket) 

Make & Take Monday

Design Your Own Dry Erase Boards

Dry erase projects allow children independence and a less frustrating experience if they are unhappy with what the’ve written or drawn. These boards can be designed to fit any theme or unit you are studying. The basic materials include cardboard or canvas, clear contact paper, and cardstock paper.

Try this Jack-O-Lantern Board for October.


Photo taken from No Time for Flashcards

Materials: orange and green card stock, a hard piece of cardboard or canvas, scissors and clear contact paper

Directions:

1. Start by drawing a basic pumpkin shape on your orange paper.

2. Cut it and a green stem out and place on your canvas or cardboard.

3. Cover with clear contact paper.

4. Have children make faces on the Jack-O-Lantern with a dry erase marker.



For fall, draw a tree pattern and have children add apples or leaves.

Feature Friday

PINTEREST

What is Pinterest?

Pinterst is a virtual pin board. According to the company itself, “Pinterest is a place to catalog the things you love.” Pinterest lets you organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. People use pinboards to plan their weddings, decorate their homes, and organize their favorite recipes. Best of all, you can browse pinboards created by other people (educators). Browsing pinboards is a fun way to discover new things and get inspiration from people who share your interests. To get started, request an invite at www.pinterest.com.

The essence of Pinterest is this: You are browsing early childhood blogs and websites and you come across a really cool graphic (idea) you want to save. So you press a button in your browser, save (or “pin”) the image to your Pinterest account, and then all of your followers on Pinterest see the image that you pinned. (All pinned images include links back to their original sources on the web.) People can also repin anything that you like that someone else has pinned. This is the Pinterest version of a retweet. When you repin something, it shows up as a pin on one of your boards and also shows who the original pinner was.

Most of the early childhood sites have a button tagged "Follow me on Pinterest" and you can click on it and go directly to their pins. You can get some great ideas for your classrooms here! In order to save and organize them on your own board you must enroll in Pinterest ( a free service). You can catalog all of your seasonal or unit ideas. At any time you can go back and get those ideas! It's like a virtual file system!
Some ideas (images) from Pinterest:

Thoughtful Thursday

Great Quotes to Ponder

 

"The human race has one really effective weapon, and that is laughter." ~ Mark Twain

"Don't speak negatively and don't listen to those who do." ~ Ron Luce

 "You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself, any direction you choose." ~ Dr Seuss

"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind." ~Dr. Seuss

"It requires less character to discover the faults of others, than to tolerate them." ~ J. Petit Senn

 

"Life is 10% of what happens to you and 90% of how you react to it."~ Charles R. Swindoll

Workshop Wednesday

Color Match Car Parking

Park each car in the correctly colored parking space.  

Materials:

Construction paper rectangles (different colors)

Black construction paper for the game mat

White construction paper for the parking lot lines

Toy cars (same colors as the paper rectangles)

Glue

Directions:

Glue the construction paper rectangles on the black game mat (see photo below)

Glue small white rectangles for the parking lot lines (see photo below)

Add toy

The kids are going to LOVE this activity!!

Taken from Pinterest