Shamrock Prints

Whenever we laminate something and cut away the excess, we try to think of what we can do with it. Well, did you know they make great stencils? You can do this for just about any design, and today we did this with shamrock shapes.

Laminate works great because it sticks well to a wet surface.

We use brayers and have them roll the paint on top of the laminate shape. Make sure it's covered well.

Put the painted laminate piece onto a clean tray and press a piece of paper on top of it. Rub the area well to pick up all of the print.

And there it is! A shamrock print.

Construction Zone

Last week my co-teacher found a wooden frame in the wood scrap bin at either Home Depot or Lowe's (I now cannot remember which one!) Lowe's (okay, I just checked with my co-teacher). Our 2's and 3's love to paint objects, especially wood. 

After it was painted, she nailed a piece of pegboard to it (also in the scrap bin).

We started with pegs to hammer into the holes.

And then we added a variety of screws and real tools, like screwdrivers and pliers and even my allen wrench.

We became construction workers!

We even tightened bolts on our school furniture.

Very real. Very meaningful. Lots of concentration!

Our Reading Room

Last week I decided to use our tent as a "reading room." 

Everything that is normally in our reading corner was now in the tent.

It was a quiet spot to sit on the little couch and look at books, or listen to a book on tape.

A special retreat.

Valentines With the 2's

Today we celebrated Valentines Day with the 2 year olds. A day late, but since we don't meet on Mondays, it worked just fine. Oh, the looks on their faces when they walked in with their valentines!

I attached their Valentines holders to the wall at the children's level.

And helped them find each of their friend's bags. 

I have a soft-spot for homemade cards.

Simple as that! But oh, so exciting. They couldn't wait to take their bags of cards home!

Unique Valentines Art

I'm quite certain I've mentioned that I have a co-teacher who comes up with some very unique art projects. 

She had the children paint the entire surface of a shower curtain with red and pink paint.

Yep, just keep on painting!

I loved how the colors melted together.

When the paint is dry, peel it from the shower curtain. Great fine motor exercise!

Yes, this is what you want.

One boy was quite please with the large piece he pulled off.

Apply glue all over a heart-shaped piece of paper and stick the pieces of dried paint to it. 

You can trim the excess.

Not one looks like the other!

Happy Valentines Day!

Valentines Bags for 2's

Last week our 2's made their Valentines bags. Very simple: white craft bags, various heart cookie cutters, red and white paint.

Or, put a bit of red and a bit of white in a tray and let them mix it.

We line the table with butcher paper and place the bags on top. Because 2's don't like boundaries and WILL want to keep on stamping.

See what I mean? Some continued onto the white paper until you could no longer see paper!

And it always gets on the hands. That's the fun part!

When dry, I fold over the top, staple a red heart to it, and add their names. 

Simple.

Fun!

Spaces

My 2's and 3's love to find small enclosed spaces. Under tables, inside tunnels, inside block structures, even inside small boxes. 

Last week I put the tent in our dramatics corner. I pretty much kept everything in that area that I normally do, except now it was all enclosed. 

So now I'm thinking about other ways to provide small enclosed spaces for them!

Love Letters

As part of our Post Office theme, and with Valentines approaching, we had our 3's class send Valentines to their families.

The children dictated to my assistant what they wanted her to write.

"I love Cheetohs, alligators, and to hug my family!"

They learned where to place a stamp on the envelope. They walked with my assistant upstairs to the outgoing mail file.

It was just a tad too high....

But they managed to get them in the slot.

I then read The Postman by Rosalinda Kightley. This is a wonderful book explaining how the mail is sorted and delivered.

There was great interest when we talked about zip codes. They all wanted to know what their zip codes were. So I think next week I will add trays to our dramatics corner (now a post office) with our local zip codes. I will add the names of the children who live in that zip code so they can pretend to sort mail for friends.