Purim Gets Colorful in PKA

Purim is a explosion of color and sound, and we got into the Purim spirit by engaging in a multitude of art activities that incorporated color, texture, and movement as well.

Our bulletin board was about to get a face lift from the somber colors that winter brings. We glued colorful collage materials onto posterboard to make our new background. 

The final result!

Another day we rolled balls through paint and discovered that it creates a track pattern on the paper. We added the final product to our bulletin board as well. 

Our next art activity involved an item you might expect to find in your kitchen instead of at preschool - a salad spinner! Many household items can double as toddler-friendly activity-makers. We squeezed paint inside, sprinkled some glitter and turned the wheel! The result was a display of unique color splashes.

Art with Morah Jessica is a special time for the children to have one-on-one and small group time with a talented artist. Morah Jessica embodies the Reggio vision of creating with natural, found materials, so of course our graggers were made of something that grows from the ground - bamboo! First the children decorated the outside by gluing on colorful sequins. Next, they exercised very fine motor skills by picking up small beads and bolts and dropping them in the hollow tube to make the gragger's sound.  A piece of burlap sealed the ends and - voila! Our very own graggers!

One of Purim's well-known customs is to dress up in costumes and masks. We created masks to disguise our pictures! Even though their eyes are hiding ,the children can usually discern who is who. 

Happy Purim!

Exploring Magnets in PKA

We are exploring magnets and their properties in Pre-Kitah Alef. In true Reggio fashion we took direction from the children when we noticed them noticing that our new wooden truck had a magnet on the back. Some things would stick to this magnet! That got us thinking that we should provide more opportunities for magnet manipulation.

 We put all kinds of magnets and metal objects in a big square tray. The base of the tray is metal as well, which makes it easy to make the vertical magnets stand up. 

Some things were too big and heavy to pick up with another magnet, even a strong one.

 Some of the magnets fit in certain holes. As the children figure out which size is a match, they're building connections in their brains and strengthening hand-eye coordination. 

With all the different materials, the possibilities for discovery are endless!

Chanukah, oh Chanukah!

Chanukah is here in Pre-KA! All around the classroom you can find the the themes and traditions of this special holiday.

We've created new Chanukah-themed sensory bottles with different weights and sounds. The children experiment by shaking them, rolling them, stacking them, and even sliding them down our tube.

On our table are our find motor activities. The children can fit large and small Chanukah candles into menorahs and pop them through small holes cut into a container. We also reinforce counting by counting the candles as we place them in the menorah. 

A Chanukah puzzle gives us the opportunity to talk about Chanukah themes while working little fingers to pinch the pegs. 

Our Chanukah sensory bin is full of dreidels, wrapping paper, candles and different textures. The children can practice spinning dreidels on the floor, or use one in particular that buzzes when you pull the string!

We have a blue pin art toy that encourages focus and creativity as the children explore the many possibilities of shapes they can make in the plastic needles. 

 On Chanukah we celebrate the light that emits from the menorah, so we incorporated lights into our play. Click-on lights change colors as the children press down on the middle. You can see their pleased and excited expressions when they successfully change the colors.

For art we painted with - dreidels! We spun them and slid them around in blue and silver sparkly paint.

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To complete our Chanukah fun we baked Chanukah cookies! Carefully and patiently we performed each step of the process - rolling the dough flat, pressing a Chanukah-shaped cookie cutter in it and sprinkling on colorful sprinkles!

We are so excited to share all of our special Chanukah take-home items with you! 

Happy Chanukah!