Hello 2/3’s families!
Although we have only been back to school for three weeks, we have been doing so much in the classroom. Nature has been a growing interest, seeing different bugs on the playground and different plants. We have spent a lot of time engaging in sensory activities, including making our own playdough and the children each choosing what color they wanted their playdough to be. We have also been reading books and doing activities that involve counting and identifying colors.
Throughout these past couple of weeks, we have been trying to teach the children how to put their own shoes on when we change shoes to go outside or when we go back into the classroom. We are working on their self-help skills and their independence. They are doing so well! It takes a lot to pull the Velcro from their shoes, hold the tongue of the shoe up, and get their foot into the shoe. Our fine motor skills are definitely being put to use!
Playing on the Gabel Annex playground has been so much fun! The children have using their gross motor skills when exploring the new climber to play on. There are two rock walls on it, one that is vertical and one that is at an angle. They are figuring out how to maneuver their bodies, how to push with their feet and pull with their hands to make it up the wall. Children that are standing on the climber often extend a hand to their friends that are climbing up the wall and help pull them onto the climber. While also on our playground, we have been drawing lots of pictures with chalk, blowing bubbles, figuring out what size balls will fit in different size basketball hoops, and cooking in the playhouse.
Some other fine motor activities that we have been focusing on include stickers, painting, dot markers,
bubble wrap, making playdough, and using scooping tools with various sensory boxes. The children have taken a huge interest in scavenging and pulling open tree seed pods! We have started collecting the seeds in a jar to store in the classroom! The seed pods can sometimes be a little challenging to crack open, but the children have figured out various ways of opening them, such as using their hands or stomping on them with their feet.
We look forward to a great July in our classroom!
Angela, Krysten, and Sherie
