This week in Sandstone we welcomed Paulette back from her vacation in Jamaica and she brought many different things back for us to explore. We began the week trying some new foods including Guniep which is a Jamaican fruit and we also tried some sugar cane. The children all enjoyed tasting these new foods, many asking for more. It’s always interesting trying new foods with children as you never know what kind of reaction your going to receive. Inara , Petra and Jacob even asked for more as it was so yummy in their tummies! It was also great to be able to share these foods with some of our families.

In the middle of the week Paulette brought some interesting rocks and shells for us to examine and explore with. We created the ocean in the water table pretending we were on a vacation finding all of these treasures. The children took the shells, which are called conch a delicacy in Jamaica, and held them to their ears to see if they could hear the ocean. The facial expressions from the children as they heard the noises the shells had to offer were amazing, a new sound many may have never heard before. Inara even told us the sound was beautiful. After exploring the conch shells we began looking at a different shell, a crab shell. We showed the children some pictures of crabs living in their shells and this sparked some imaginative play in which the children pretended to be different ocean animals. Lastly we closely examined some rocks that were from the ocean. Children noticed the interesting patterns left on the rocks. Children wondered if any animals ever lived in these rocks, we didn’t know the answer to this however the children thought they probably did hide in the cracks of the rocks. While children explored these different natural objects they developed a sense of wonder and appreciation for the natural world as they brought all their senses into play in  their experience, this included sight, touch, feel, taste and even smell ( PPP, 2014, p.114).

Lastly the children got to play with Jamaican dolls. They resembled the different outfits that many girls wear in Jamaica. Children explored and created their own stories with the different dolls. The one doll who was wearing a school outfit was often on her way to school in their stories while the others were going to beautiful party’s in their beautiful outfits. It is important to teach children about the different cultures around the world. Through this children engage in practices that respect diversity as they learn about differences including cultural , racial , physical, spiritual, linguistic, gender, social, and economic ( PPP, 2014, p.111).
Have a great weekend everyone 🙂

Paulette and Michelle