New! Exiting! Something to explore! On Tuesday at our morning meeting we all gathered around as Jessica presented new materials for us on our art shelf. We found six new bowls filled with loose parts for us to explore and extend our play. We pulled out small white blocks with black dots on them, Paulette showed us how to let them roll onto the floor, then we counted the little black dots. We have found a new game to play with the dice and it can be played alone or with a big group of friends. Another part of our new shelf is the access to open art supplies, we have markers, stamps, scissors, paper, and crayons for the children to use.
Climbing out of the car (quiet cube) during a trip to the store some of the girls stopped by the shelf to make tickets for the ride with stamps and markers, folding the paper up as they pushed the “tickets” into their bags and continued with their play. These loose parts and open materials will allow the children not only to work on fine motor development but express ideas and process the information they have gathered around them. The children have taken ownership of this new shelf, carefully putting the colours back in the matching jars, placing the lids on the markers so they don’t dry out. The sense of pride and the ownership the children have taken is an example of how the children are citizens in the classroom.
Have a great weekend and see you on Monday.
Jessica, Brooke, and Paulette