On Friday Early Arrival was in Studio Yellow. Charlie N from Studio Red arrived first and spent some time walking around the classroom, looking at the things on the wall. She was particularly interested in the display of where the children and teachers in Yellow live and the items they have chosen to share with the group.
Extended playground time from Noon to 12:30pm is a time for our mixed-age group of children to shift from their morning studios to a new group of friends. This may mean new ideas for a game already in progress, a return to something from a previous day, or something new and different.
On Thursday Alex, Wesley and Jack had a problem to solve…. how could they move the large, heavy stump across the playground
Wesley – We have to drive this to our house…because it’s a lost present.
Alex brings over the wooden wheel barrow – Now dump it on here.
Jack – It’s working! Push it up! Yay!
Meanwhile Chris, who is staying for the first time this year announces he is a robot.
I am a robot – a singing robot. I am a robot.
Do you move too?
No. Robots can’t move….well, yeah they can, but only slowly
Chris the robot spends some time singing, spinning and swaying and then says….
Press this button (on his jacket) it makes me find things, things that are red.
What else might a robot do?
After lunch we spend some time looking at books and reading together. A favorite this week has been The Three Little Aliens and the Big Bad Robot.
The story tells of Bork, Gork and Nklxwxyz, three little aliens who leave home with a warning to look out for the Big, Bad Robot. During Plus Friday when Diane tells the children the third name is in another language and she can’t read it, one of the children tells her “Karen says Fork”. Karen doesn’t say Fork but maybe now we all will! It makes perfect sense – Bork, Gork and Fork!
AFTER REST TIME THIS WEEK ONE OF THE CHOICES WE OFFERED THE CHILDREN WAS A COLLECTION OF LOOSE PARTS WHICH THEY ARRANGED TO MAKE ROBOTS. WE LET THE CHILDREN PLAY WITH THE PARTS, TELLING THE STORIES OF THEIR ROBOTS AND TAKING PHOTOGRAPHS TO KEEP A MEMORY, PUTTING ALL THE PIECES AWAY AT THE END OF THE DAY.
WHAT ARE THESE? ASKS WILL F, THEY’RE INTERESTING…
