Bear families

We compared the sizes of some little bears today. The littlest bears were called "baby" while the medium sized bears were called "mommy" and lastly the biggest bears were called "daddy"

The children lined them up on the shelf in small families, discussing which bear was which, while they placed them.

"The daddy is way bigger, just like my daddy"

"Baby bear, mommy bear, daddy bear. There they are all here."

"Building Blocks"

Today the children went to the block area and decided to "fix" the blocks. It started when one child went over to the blocks with a tool in his hand.  He started to gather all the wooden blocks, then he proceeded to build his fort. The other children saw him and also went to the area and worked with the "coloured blocks". They spent 5 to 10 minutes playing separately when one of them decided to build a bridge using the different blocks. They showed their cooperation and team work as they helped each other carry and align the blocks.

Finger Tubes

The children were putting the marker lids on their fingers. They were interested in doing that frequently, but we didn't want all our markers to dry out so we found a different way to encourage and support their ideas. We chose to cut tubes to let them explore it. We called it "Finger Tubes".

Tall, taller, tallest

There has been quite a few conversations about height going on in our room lately.
We heard children talking to each other about how tall they are and how to find ways to feel even taller. To do this they were standing on chairs, blocks and sitting on the shelf by the window after climbing the log.

Being tall feels powerful to a child!

"Look it's so high"

Understanding length is one of the first steps of understanding math concepts.

"It's getting taller!"

We are helping the children learn about these concepts by using words such as long, longer, longest, short, shorter, shortest, tall, taller, tallest and more.

"It's bigger than me!" 

We measured and compared the two different things. How tall we were compared to the creations we built.

Coffee Break

Today a few girls set the table, got babies, and decided to have a little break. They were having coffee...

"You spilled my coffee!"
"Oh sorry there's more, you can get it"

"Oh I spilled my coffee"
"Not again.... You have to clean up your mess."

These girls are learning about the world around them by acting out activities they have seen adults who they admire do. They are learning by watching you. 

Painting the Play Garden Red

Winter sometimes can be a difficult season to endure with the frigid temperatures. Well here in the our XP room we find creative ways to enjoy the season outside. One day our teachers brought out coloured water in bottles that spray and squirt. We had a blast colouring our winter wonderland.

Some comments we heard were " I'm making green blood, you're making red blood", "it's turning colours", "mine's sticking together" "it's almost empty, I need more" 

Pomelo Tasting

Our "lamb" group had the opportunity to try something new today. The children were given time to examine and look closely at the peel and inside of the fruit. First they felt it, the peel was smooth and cold. Then they smelled it, it had a  citrus smell.  What is it? This fruit is a pomelo. When we cut open our pomelo, the children noticed that it looked different than the one in the picture. Mrs.Cruz explained that the color of our pomelo was different because our pomelo was not as ripe as the one in the picture. Then we all had a chance to taste the  pomelo, it tasted sweet.