A Winter Wild Rumpus: Week 3

A final week of this pilot program!

I added a few new items this week.  First, smaller spray bottles for water!  This sprayer mechanism is much more challenging for small hands, so the kids tried lots of ways to work around the challenge (again, VERY engaged for the entire session!).  The favorite method?  Just unscrew the top, silly.

 Of course, that led to lots more water puddles on the table.  I appreciated this young person's ingenuity as he refilled his bottle from the drips coming off the edge of the table.

 And clean-up was fun too!

 

I also added two Gonge Tops.  The older kids (and parents, sigh) played with them more than the younger children this week.

 But the boxes that the tops came in?  Those were (of course) GOLD!

This young person was leading this spool around like a pet on a leash.

 This spool was great for wrapping tulle around

 And hanging two spools from the ends of a bungee cord worked well too!

 There was some nice balancing action going on with blocks this week:

 And, of course, a few play stories.

Next week, we start back in with this same program (more or less) but a new name: AnjiPlayDate!

Please note: "Anji Play,” refers to a specific philosophy and comprehensive approach to early education developed by Ms. Cheng Xueqin in Anji County, China. I use the term "Anji Play" to describe my programming and throughout this blog with the explicit permission of Ms. Cheng because our programming has been developed as part of a close collaborative relationship with her and her team of Anji Play educators. If you are interested in learning more about how you can bring Anji Play to your community, please visit www.anjiplay.com

WonderWorks on the Road: Ramps

A very portable, take-along project, perfect for preschoolers!

Today's Topic: Ramps
Supplies:
cove molding (See details here)
balls
blocks (from the classroom's own collection)

Book: 

Two little chicks / Gorbachev, Valeri
(older version of this book are titled "Chicken Chickens")

Winter Wild Rumpus, Week 2

What changes and new adventures did we see in week 2 of the Winter Wild Rumpus?  Read on!

Almost immediately, as soon as we were done with the opening activities, the same child who put a pool on top of the carts last week to make a "house" went to try it again.  Unfortunately, we'd placed the carts a little wider than last time and the pool didn't span the gap. Instead, she propped the pool up on the side of the carts to make a "lean-to" kitchen, then she developed a new plan for the roof:

 Bedsheet + clamps!  Plus, check out the "hardwood floor" she laid this week, complete with a carefully crafted front edge that lines up despite offset planks!

A tour of the inside reveals curtains (with extra fancy tulle swoops at the top) that provide "privacy" for the "bedroom" (bottom shelf of the cart).

More play after the jump!

Winter Wild Rumpus, week 1

This was the very first week of a new program I'm rolling out at the library this winter.  This is the first of three pilot weeks as I test out elements for a new program I'll be rolling out in January.

We started by having kids make "nametags" by writing their name on a full sheet of paper, then hanging that paper on a clothesline (hooray for fine-motor pincer practice, a pre-writing skill!). (also, shout-out of thanks to Holly Storck-Post for this clothesline idea.  I love brainstorming with you!)

Then I started the program with a song that I changed the lyrics slightly to fit the program and a brief explanation of AnjiPlay and some photos from my trip to China.  We went over the "5 rules for adults" (Hands down, Mouth closed, eyes open, ears open, heart open) then I reminded everyone that at the end of play, they should draw a play story on the same sheet of paper that they clipped to the clothesline and then.... we started the play!