The Fruits of my Labor

I feel like with the support of my lead teacher and co-workers that my "Play Day" was a success. I think for the most part I reached all my goals. My projects were developmentally appropriate and many of the students participated and had fun. I also got a great bulletin board out of it.

The Flannel Board

I think the flannel board is a teacher's best friend. The children don't complain that they can't see. You can tell any story you want and you can alter the story depending upon the interest level of the group. Here I'm telling a age appropriate bible story of Noah's Ark to a small group of interested kids. I think after a busy morning that it's calming to listen to a story. It develops listening skills, and memory skills and sequencing skills.

Noah's Ark

The Noah's Ark wooden toy had a lot to offer. Cognitively you could teach about pairs, learn new animal names, and see what an Ark would look like. There is only one ark in the classroom so children can learn to share and interact, which is the beginning of compromising and negotiating. It is also a great imagination toy.

Animals and Play Dough

I found that the animals and play dough table created the most social experience.I observed lots of talking, laughing, and silliness.I would also say that this was the "imagination" table although the children at this age still need replicas of real objects in their play. The children were making animal sounds and had the animals interacting with each other. The play dough also works the hand muscles, getting them ready to hold a pencil. There was also sharing and taking turns going on at this table.

Puzzles

I wasn't surprised to see this little boy at the puzzles. English is a second language for him and he's really still a "solitary player". There was still lots of value in doing the puzzles. Naming the animals in English, fitting the shapes in the right place and actually placing them developes fine motor skills.

Painting the Ark

Each child that came to the art table had a different approach and experience. You can see how some children are interested in using a paint brush and some just dive right in a go for the "Full Monte"..not just painting but going for more of a sensory experience. The last picture shows how something can be a challenge, develop fine motor skills and still be fun. I found this to be a less social experience. This brought out the parallel rather then the group play I was hoping for. I had more girls than boys interested in this table.

Noah's Ark (part 1)

Our classroom has a Theme Based, Emergent Curriculum. Since we are studying animals I chose Noah’s Ark as the Theme for my project. I thought this would work because the children that were interested could participate and the other children could make other choices. Our classroom themes are in one or two week blocks. The animal theme is a two-week block. Our class schedule has free play from 9:15 – 10:10. That was the perfect amount of time form my “Play Project”. The goals of the art table were to help develop fine motor skills, develop cognitive and social skills, and to have many children participate and have fun. On the Art table I had cutouts of an ark. A child could choose to either paint it (the paint had glue and shaving cream added for texture) and or put animal stickers on it. It introduces new vocabulary with the word ARK and naming animals. At the Manipulative table my goals were the same as the art table but I also felt that it was a great place to socialize. There were puzzles of animals for children who don’t enjoy painting and I put different animals and play dough out. Both help with small motor skills and encouraged socialization. The rug area had a wooden ark with pairs of animals and soft blocks. There were also books and a felt board with the Noah’s Ark story set up. I roamed the room, sometimes observing and sometimes engaging with the children that were participating in my project. As an assistant teacher it always feels so important that the children take an interest in my ideas. If they like it I feel like a success and if I miss the mark I can’t help but feel I failed. I think this morning went pretty well. The most important thing is that I learned about the students was that they are evolving everyday.

Fine Motor Skills

Here are some ways we work on our fine motor skills and have a great time to boot! All of this play is really work. Getting our hands ready to hold a pencil.







Making "birthday cakes" with play dough and sticking the candles in is a great workout for the hands.

Learning Cause and Effect

These two boys have older sibling and are some of the first to play together. Is there a better way to learn about the physical world?

Physical Manipulation

The camera helps me with my observations. I sat and watched this two year old "work" with different shaped blocks. You could almost see the wheels spinning in his head.

Speaking of Playing

First we had Solitary Play, and then we had Parallel Play.



Last few weeks something really crazy happen, some of the kids found each other. There are two boys in my class that have older brothers that are friends and they started the ball rolling, fighting bad guys. Then some of the girls started trying on the costumes and talking to each other. It's so much fun to watch! I think the picture really shows that these kids have a connection.