It's Not Trash, It's Treasure

     After our Winter Break, we were pleasantly surprised by the arrival of our outdoor blocks.  With these blocks, we can create an infinite amount of building designs.  We work in groups, and sometimes individually.  It's our choice.  The best thing?  The knobs and holes fit together perfectly, so our structures are sturdy.  (Above, Yinon and Becker work on their construction.)

     The wooden blocks had been packed with white Styrofoam cubes.  The blocks arrived in perfect condition, protected by the Styrofoam cubes.  We could have thrown the packing cubes in the garbage, but no way--they are perfect to use in our room!  (Above, Evan and Becker stack the cubes.)

    Becker and Annika practice stacking and balancing the cubes.   We take turns.  (Below, Evan joins in.)

     Below: Our play-people showed up on the blocks, too.  Is that a Frank Lloyd Wright house we've made? Anslee, Sammy, Lily and Yannai join Becker as they place the play-people on different levels of the "house."

     Natalie, Annika, Sammy and Becker spread out the blocks. Later, our blocks became chairs! We sat on them very, very carefully!

     We switch out the designs.  Everyone had an opinion.  We enjoyed using our blocks.  Perhaps they were destined for the trashcan, but they weren't trash--we had found so many ways to use them!

     We had had earlier experiences with "trash."  There was some outdated printer paper in our kitchen.  It was the perfect paper for our group painting activities.  (Below, Annabelle and Anslee watercolor during Morning Arrival.)

Sammy stands by watching as her friends paint.

Caleb, Evan and Yannai work together on their printer-paper mural.

     Looks like more trash?  Toilet paper rolls are very popular art supplies.  We always find another way to use them.  (Did you know that you could actually buy these? Empty toilet paper rolls, without toilet paper?  Amazing!)

     Costco has the best boxes.  They're piled up in the store, but they're not trash! Our Morahs brought one in to use with our toy cars.  Instead, it became a piece of art as we painted together on its surface. We like to reuse materials.

     Sometimes we re-purpose our supplies.  One thing becomes another thing.  Sammy works on a counting game with a muffin tin that a Morah brought it from her kitchen.

     And sometimes nothing becomes something.  This empty space, behind the open doors, has turned into an elevator, a store and a bakery.  There's a lot of dramatic play here!

     (Above, Morah India joins the fun as this space becomes an "elevator.")

     And, one child's "trash" can become our treasure!  Over the Winter Break, this Melissa and Doug wooden house showed up at a thrift store.  Our Morah snapped it up!  It's one of our new favorite go-to Morning Activities.

     (Pictured:  Natalie, Yannai and Maddy enjoying the "new" wooden house.)

     With Tu B'Shvat, the Birthday of the Trees,  right around the corner, it makes perfect sense to consider our environment.  HaShem creates a beautiful world for us.  When we reuse and re-purpose our belongings, we show respect for the world around us.

Kitah Gimmel