Hello Toddler 1 Families,
February flew by and it brought many cold days that we had to stay inside. We brought some outdoor elements inside to explore, and also did a lot of gross motor activity in the classroom, including some new things we haven’t tried before. On the warmer days, we were able to make it outside and play in the snow. One week during this month, each of our interns were able to practice lead teaching for a day. We look forward to when they begin their lead teaching!
Gross Motor in the Classroom
On some of those cold days, the children have so much energy built up that we have to find new ways to get rid of some of that energy. This month, we introduced the trampoline to them, along with some stepping stones that vary in size. While jumping on the trampoline, we sang one of our transition songs that we sing for group time, In the Middle. Children were able to jump for the duration of the song, and then sat on the carpet and allowed another friend to have a turn. This practiced turn taking when we only had one trampoline for everyone to use.
The stepping stones were used to allow the children to practice their balancing skills as they stepped from stone to stone. Towards the end, some of the children, along with Ana, practiced balancing on one foot!
Yoga was introduced to the children as well. We stretched our bodies in ways that resembled animals and different parts of nature. During yoga, we practiced taking deep breaths to calm our body. This has become a common tool for beginning group time as well.
Shapes, Colors, and Counting
Most of the children have been labeling shapes and colors in the classroom. We continuously encourage the children to continue working on this skill. We brought some new toys in the classroom called Twisting Bolts. These toys allow the children to match the colors and shapes together and twist them together. The children have really enjoyed these and played with them in the room for weeks.
Kham also worked on this skill during her one of her lead teaching weeks. She planned an activity where she made tunnels out of construction paper and asked the children to match a ball to the corresponding tunnel. The children stayed playing with these materials for about 20-30 minutes!
Sensory Play
A new item that was introduced to the children was playdough. Playing with playdough is a great fine motor activity as it strengthens the muscles in their hands. They used various tools to make different shapes, cut, and roll their playdough into balls.
Our practicum students Jazmin and Emily also worked on this in the classroom. Jazmin brought in individual sand boxes to allow for some sensory play. Her focus was labeling textures and scooping with shovels.
Emily also worked on this by creating sensory bags for the children. She focused on textures and cause and effect by emphasizing what happened to the materials inside the bag while the children pushed on the outside of the bag.
Reminders
- Please remember to sign your child in and out every day on the clipboard on top of our cubbies outside the classroom.
- If you have not done so already, please return your child’s ASQ-3 and ASQ-SE assessments.
- Please bring warm outdoor clothes for your children as we do go outside daily, weather permitting. This includes hats, mittens, snow pants, boots, and winter coats. We will continue to wear snow pants, even if there is no snow. Our playground gets very muddy as spring approaches and they protect the children’s clothes.
Sincerely,
Ana, Ecila, and Krysten
