Busy, busy bees!

 We have been busy, busy worker bees the last few weeks!  We have had lots of time to explore the classroom while we also worked on fall assessments and our literacy screenings.  

The students love to explore in the art center!  Several different kinds of paints are available for children to use freely every day.  On a typical day, there are many different color mixing experiments taking place that usually end up in the color I like to call "preschool brown".  

Painting on the easel is always a popular choice.  It also help us build strong arm and finger muscles.  

 In the dramatic play center, students are free to act out scenarios and play pretend.  Playing in dramatic play helps students build language skills, learn to interact with other children, and play cooperatively with their friends.

In our science center, students enjoy exploring many different types of materials.  Here, students are exploring the properties of magnets. 

Students love to use the magnifying glass to look closely at different objects in our classroom. 

 We have been exploring corn in the sensory table.  Students are encouraged to talk about the texture of the corn, use the corn to compare the volume of varying containers, and just enjoy the sensory experience.

We recently took our wood blocks out of storage so students have been very excited to get a turn to build with them.  Many of the students enjoy making zoos for the animals.  

Play-doh is always a popular choice.  This month we've been experiencing pumpkin play-doh that smells almost good enough to eat!  Working with play-doh helps strengthen our hands and fingers so that eventually we are strong enough to write!

 

We've also been busy practicing our ball skills.  We practice throwing, kicking, and catching with partners.  Hopefully the weather cooperates so we are able to keep playing outside!

 Finally, we had our classroom Halloween party last week!  A fun time was had by all.  We wrapped one another up in toilet paper like mummies, and then enjoyed throwing it around :)

Thank you to all of the families that brought items for our party.  Everything was delicious and it was a day to remember! 

Farm Field Trip

Our trip to Hinchley's Dairy Farm was cold and wet but tons of fun!  We learned so much about how farmers work to provide milk and other dairy products for us to eat.

 Our day started with a hayride to the pumpkin patch.  It rained the entire time, but we did our best to stay warm and picked our pumpkins quickly!

With rain, comes mud.  A few friends got a little muddy, we washed up :)

Everyone got a chance to milk a dairy cow.  Friend said it felt like squeezing a marshmallow!

Farmer Tina showed us around the farm and showed us the big glove she has to use to help baby cows being born.

We got to see the milking room and see the equipment that milks the cows.

We ended our trip to the farm by eating lunch with our friends.  What a fun day!

Fire Safety

During the second week of October, we learned about Fire Safety.  We talked about where we might find fire, how to be safe around fire, and how to safely get out of the house if there is a fire.  

We experienced finger painting with fire colors.  When we were finished, we used black paint to make smoke.

We traced the phrase "FIRE - 911" with glue and then sprinkled on glitter.

We played a fire graphing game.  Students rolled the die, and stamped the corresponding picture on their graph.

We made fire hats and practiced for our fire drill. 

The highlight of the week was the visit from the fire department.  We got to go inside the fire truck and examine all of the firefighter's equipment!

We had a great week and learned a lot!