The Butterfly Project

We are down to our last 3 weeks of preschool here and to close off the school year we decided to explore butterflies.  There are many different types of butterflies in the province of Alberta and I have already seen some Cabbage White and Common Wood Nymphs on my hikes around the city and out in the Rockies.

We ordered some caterpillars from a butterfly farm in Alberta and they came yesterday! Here they are in their little homes until they form their chrysalis.

The brown stuff on the bottom is their food.  The paper towel keeps the food from drying out and is the place where the caterpillar attaches the chrysalis. 

We explored the caterpillars together and the children each held a cup in their hands.  We talked together about what we know about caterpillars and then made some observations when we were holding the cups.

We said: "They have fur", "They have pokies, pokes!", "They have legs", "They are babies", "What are the spiderwebs?"  We discovered that some were already making their chrysalis in the cups.

In a few days we should be observing the caterpillars in their chrysalis.



Ivory Soap Sculptures

Today we had a lot of fun doing a science experiment!  We wanted to see what would happen if we put a bar of Ivory soap in the microwave.  At group time the children suggested various ideas about what might happen to the soap. 

They suggested: it would melt, explode (but they would help clean the microwave), get hot, become bumpy, soggy, or get on fire right away.

We put it in for about 30 seconds and the soap began to puff up and bubble into crazy shapes.  The children said: "The soap exploded!", "It exploded like I said it would!", and "It exploded, it exploded!"

Many of our predictions were correct.  The soap DID heat up.  It DID melt.  It DID have bumps on it.

Some did not happen (thankfully).  The soap DIDN'T catch on fire right away, but we wondered if it would happen if we left it in a long time.  The child who made this prediction is also one who is still enjoying being a fire fighter.  

We put food colour in eyedroppers and painted the soap sculpture.

In September we did a project on colour mixing and this was a great way to apply what we discovered even in May.

The eye droppers are also great for strengthening fine motor skills. 

Tomorrow we are doing this with our 3 year olds as well.  It is a great inexpensive way to include sculpture opportunities within your classroom.  It is also an art experience that the children do together and it encourages cooperation.  Thanks to The Chocolate Muffin Tree blog for the idea!

This month we are trying something that our school has never done before: Individual Projects.  This may be familiar territory to some, but I have generally done one project per class at preschool.  I try to observe the greatest interest within the group or introduce something that may soon be a big life experience for the children, for example, The Tooth Project for 5 year olds.  I was doing some reading on project work that described how several projects could actually be occurring within a group at the same time and thought it would be an adventure to try this. 

Using literature to explore frogs. 

Today we observed that some have webbed feet and others 3 "fingers".  Also a trip to the neighbourhood pond is suggested.

The children picked the projects they wanted to explore. Two children were fascinated by the new penguin exhibit at our Calgary zoo and wanted to explore penguins.  They used a kid's website about penguins to identify the types of play penguins we had in our classroom.

We are also located in an area with many ponds and two children wanted to investigate frogs.  One boy is interested in houses, how they are built, what they look like, and who lives in them.  We have three big windows in our room and he was looking out them at the homes near our school.  He was counting and analyzing their colours and details.

 Another child loves flowers and how they grow.  Two children were intrigued by alligator books and again spend a lot of time at the zoo observing alligators.  And, one girl was observing clouds out the window and exploring them during free play. 

We used our classroom computer to answer our questions.

We thought:  What are our goals for these projects?  It is that they learn everything there is to know about frogs, clouds etc?  Or, is it to create an environment that encourages self-directed learning, critical thinking, and that the children are smart, creative, and have the ability to learn?  We believe that we are showing these children the following:

1.  We hear what you have to say and what you think about
2.  We recognize your unique and individual interests
3.  We will support you in your quest for discovery
4.  You are smart, you can do it!
5.  To discover you need to ask questions and we will help you find ways to answer those
6.  Grow your brain!

Enjoy the journey of these projects.

Sticky Window Art

I came across the idea of using Clear Transparent Paper and foamies for an art experience on Dana Gorman's Playfully Learning Blog (she found it on another teaching blog).  It is available at Walmart in the bathroom/kitchen section and comes in clear and foggy like we had here.  I was hoping for clear but Walmart was all out.

Dana had put the contact paper on her art easel and filled the trays with yarn and foamy shapes.  Her easel was clear and the children could look through the paper while they created.  Our easel is dark and I was trying to come up with a creative way to do this experience with similar effects.

We ended up taping the paper to the window and it ended up being a great way for light to flow through the paper.

At this point in the year the children didn't have any issues with reaching the window - we discussed if it would be available for all children to enjoy and it was.

We had huge heart flowers.

And butterflies, lollipops, monsters, houses, patterns, and rainbows.

Both the 3 and 4 year old classes enjoyed this art experience.

I love messy art, but this was a GREAT way to include an open ended art experience into your classroom.  Many parents also enjoyed the idea and thought about incorporating it into their homes with their toddlers and other children.

It encouraged creativity and imagination and we also observed the children making things together and using the pieces to tell stories.   It was a refreshing and age appropriate way of including art into the preschool classroom.

 

Real Firefighters

There is something special about getting a visit from REAL FIRE FIGHTERS.  They are heroes, community helpers, and a symbol of bravery and courage.  I am so thankful that fire fighters know how to connect with children in their community and come down to their level.  These fire fighters jumped right in with smiles, chatted down on their knees with the children, answered their questions, and engaged them in conversation.  I wonder if they know how much impact they have on the lives of children.

We had a ladder truck come to school and they took the ladder way up into the sky.  The kids watched a fire fighter climb up it.

They put down the stabilizers and one of our children got to press the buttons to do that.

The EMS and their ambulance also came to our school this day!  We fit 16 children and a teacher inside it!  The paramedic was great at showing some of the equipment and the children enjoyed exploring this emergency vehicle.  It has expanded the play in our block centre with the emergency vehicles.  The ambulance come now off the shelf and assists the fire fighters.

THANK YOU TO OUR COMMUNITY HELPERS FOR MAKING THIS POSSIBLE FOR US.  WE LOVED IT AND LEARNED SOME MUCH FROM YOU.

Following the Child's Lead in Play

Well today I learned about following the child's lead in play - and the scuff marks on the knees of my pants will show this!

On Monday I introduced a prop box with fire jackets, helmets, axes, a hose, walkie talkie, pictures of fire, and play fire extinguisher.  Many children dove into dramatic play putting fires out all over the classroom.  Yesterday, my practicum student brought in a prop box that she had made and it had some great ideas.  One was that she made maps of Calgary and the children were reading them and determining where the fire was.

Some comments we recorded were:

• "Oh where is the fire?  Here it is, the fire is in Ranchlands.  We need to go there."
• "I see fire up here.  We need to go this way to put out the fire."
• "We can't go yet!  We haven't looked at the map!  Firefighters look at the map for a long time first.  Then we can go."

 My practicum student also turned the box that she used to store the firefighter materials into a fire engine!  This sturdy plastic container was just the right size for our 3 and 4 year olds and guess what my job was?  To push the fire truck around the classroom as the children followed the map and put out fires.  The knees on my pants were very worn by the end of the day!

 What a wonderful opportunity for following the child's lead in play!  They invited me to join in and as they directed me around the room I could hear their conversations, support their play, and be a part of their learning.  This was a child lead activity and it reminded me of the importance of supporting and scaffolding these experiences.

 We had a fire house dog and it helped rescue other dogs and cats from places.

We put blue streamers and card stock on the art table so that the children could make their own hose to play with and bring home. 

 

 One child discovered this tube in our class.  Yesterday the 4 year old classes were using it as a fire pole for the little firefighters.  This 3 year old child thought it worked great as a fire hose!  It is fun to see the different classes use the materials in creative ways.

Saving animals from trees was important work as well.  We even had a child dress up in our cat costume and call to be rescued.

Working together to put out a fire in this house.  Someone had burned the pizza they were cooking and called the fire department!

 We also learned that smoke can be very dark and flashlights are important tools for firefighters.

I did get a helper in our afternoon class!  She was determined to push her friend around!

Again, not all of the children were engaged in playing firefighters. Some were in the sand table, others painted and explored playdough.  But, I hope that this provides you with some ideas of exploring fire safety and firefighters!

"I Think it is Time we Learned about Fire Safety"

Today we began our project exploring Fire Fighters and Fire Safety.  Several children in my class have been asking for several weeks to explore this and entered our classrooms with big smiles because "Finally we are learning about Fire Fighters".  I like to do Fire Safety once a year to explore ways of keeping safe from fire and to help the preschoolers get a clearer sense of why we do fire drills.

Setting the Stage:
Children know that fire fighters put out fires.  But, why do they wear a mask, jackets, oxygen tank, and boots?  What is the ax for?  What is a hydrant?  What other equipment does a fire fighter need?  Are girls fire fighters too?  What happens during a forest fire or grass fire?  Do helicopters and airplanes  help put our fires?  These are some questions that we are beginning to ask and investigate!


Some children began to explore fire fighters through pretend and dramatic play.  I found these fire fighter boots at Walmart!  We explored how boots would keep a fire fighter's feet safe.

Fire helmets and jackets were an important part of their creative play.

Some children made their own fire hoses to play with.  They glued blue streamers inside a piece of cardstock.  We then rolled it up and stapled it!  They used it to put fires out all over our classroom.

I laminated some pictures of fire and put sticky tack on the back.  The children could move the pictures around the classroom and take them down when the fire was put out.

After discussion with the staff, we decided to not put out the toy fire hall for the children.  I don't mind the toy, but I wondered if it restricted the children from using their imaginations and creativity.  You don't have to "Grow Your Brain" and create a fire hall if it is already there.  The children did  noticed that a fire hall was missing, but an essential part of playing fire fighter.  We discussed some ways to solve this problem and decided that blocks would be the best way to create our own fire hall.  One child suggested that a fire hall needs a pole for the fire fighters to go down to their fire engines.  He and I discovered that a wrapping paper tube would be a perfect pole!  Our little fire fighters could fit inside!  Together we used our imagination and it was interesting to observe the symbolic representation and pretend play that occured!

This is the fire hall that was built in our block corner today.