There has been a lot of excitement and buzz over the new photos on our wall! The children were inspecting the pictures together. Some of the pictures are a bit higher up, so we have been using the bench as a helpful way for us to see them up close and personal. The children have… Read more »
Category: Toddler
The Toddler Town Express
Fostering Meaningful Explorations:The train is an ever-present part of life here at The Patchwork School. For some students it is a great source of fun and excitement and for others it can be overwhelming and scary. The idea to start a train exploration came about after Becca and I noticed the many emotions that are… Read more »
Working Through Feelings with Play
Wood takes a rough spill as he tripped on the edge of the sand box as he was running to the wood chips. Cassie the preschool teacher offered to pick him off the ground, and Wood refused her help and laid down a little further over. A preschool student and Henry noticed that Wood was… Read more »
Marble Tracks
In noticing that many of the older children seem ready for more challenging manipulatives and building materials, we offered the marble tracks to small groups of older toddlers this week. The children responded to these new materials with great excitement and curiosity! Many children became quite fixated on keeping track of the exact marble which… Read more »
Birds, birds, birds
Over the past few months, we (teachers) have been inspired by the way in which the unfolding of Spring seems to have sparked a strong interest and curiosity amongst the group for exploring the natural world. Many of the materials and projects we’ve offered over the past few months have served to support and build… Read more »
Fostering dramatic play and exploration…
We have specifically chosen materials, which we hope will support and extend the toddler group’s evolving interest and explorations around dramatic play. Dramatic play is also referred to as symbolic, imaginative, or pretend play. “Dramatic play remains an integral part of the developmental learning process by allowing children to develop skills in such areas as… Read more »
Homemade silly putty!
We made some homemade silly putt on Wednesday! The process was kind of messy but the result was a easily molded clay-like consistency. Here is the recipe: One part corn starch Two parts dish soap Food coloring (optional) We put the food coloring in last and it might have worked better if we dyed the… Read more »
The tennis courts at Pirate’s Park inspire a collaborative game
Another version of the “ready, set, go” game ensued, and involved lots of running, some pretend sleeping, high-fiving, and everybody falling on top of each other and laughing.
Rose petals and orange peels frozen in ice
This was truly an exploratory experience; inviting creativity, sparking curiosity, and inspiring investigations around the properties of ice! The children found many ways to engage with the materials–smelling, painting, holding in hands, and picking up the ice with various tools. As the children came back to this activity throughout the day, they were continually delighted… Read more »
Ready, set, GO!
The children have created a game together, which they are playing in many different settings. The game usually involves the phrase, “ready, set, go!,” some sort of simultaneous movement such as running, then gathering back together, waiting, looking back and forth at each other, and naturally taking turns being the one to shout joyously, “ready,… Read more »