JEWELRY MAKING with BRIDGET
PUPPET MAKING with JILLIAN
SLACKLINING with GRIFFIN
WATER WORKS with KERRY
TUG-OF-WAR with SHAWN
NATURE PAINTING with LISA
Tuesday, August 27, 2013
Thursday, August 22, 2013
Camps: August 12 - 16
PUZZLE MAKING with LISA
OBSTACLE COURSE with KERRY
All of room 6 was our oyster this week. I let them have free reign on everything they could think to use, cockroaches excluded, no matter how nicely they asked. We built tracks from mats, trampolines from pillows, mazes with blocks, caves with silks and tables. Their imaginations went wild, and every day was different. One day we built what could be considered the preschool version of Gotham City. We all wore capes and became super heroes. As I was the last to pick my alter ego, and all the greats had been taken, I had to settle for Super Pumpkin Girl. We raced through our mini city stopping for pumpkin seed snacks when we needed a break.
FRISBEE with CAIT
This week, we found a myriad of ways to play with frisbees. We explored different ways to throw them (front- and back-hand, as well as various tosses) and tried to aim them into a goal. As well as trying throw along a line, or as far across the parking lot as we could, we played with bouncing frisbees off of the ground and the walls. They also make interesting hats, and can be fun to balance on your head!
GOOP with SHAWN
Creating our own sensory experience, many friends joined in to mix, mold, and make goop. Some days we created a silly putty like substance, while on others we focused on creating oobleck with cornstarch, water, and food coloring. We would start each day by discussing as a group what type of goop we would like to create, and what materials we will need to make it. While the putty was exciting to personalize with an individual color and small amount, the oobleck brought a partner and larger group aspect to the experimentation, often letting the substance drip over a neighbors hand, mixing colors with a partner, or showing how slippery it makes the containers. Goop was an exciting material to create and manipulate for our preschool friends!
SLACKLINING with GRIFFIN
This week we had the most popular summer camp of ALL time! Slacklining in the yard. It was so popular that we extended the camp another week so that more friends would have the opportunity to try this, physically and mentally challenging task. We tied the line to the fence in the school yard and took turns walking across the slackline. It took a great deal of focus to balance our bodies and walk the line. Each person was given varied amounts of support to scaffold their ability to strengthen their core and improve their balance. Some friends wanted to hold a shoulder while others preferred one or two hands. Friends worked on putting one foot in front of the other in a heel-toe style, and others took a sideway-stance shuffling their feet side to side. Some friends worked so hard to maintain their balance so intensely that they broke out into a sweat from the physical challenge that walking across the slackline presented. Toddlers in the yard watched with awe as the preschoolers completed their summer camp task. Friends waited in line patiently to have many turns to go across the line throughout the hour. I sincerely encourage parents to head to a climbing gym and give friends more opportunities to work on this skill.
BOARD GAMES with BRIDGET
Many thanks to the David family who brought in board games for us to play. The most popular were Candy Land, Chutes and Ladders, and the Hungry Hungry Caterpillar. A few kids had played board games before and enjoyed helping others learn them . For other kids it was a brand new experience. It was great practice in preschool skills like taking turns, and listening to directions, counting, and color identification.
DANCE with JILLIAN
I have had the opportunity to teach a dance camp several times this summer and this week I was so impressed by how well the campers remembered the songs and routines! Specifically, we incorporated some new songs and moves - stomping around to "We are the Dinosaurs" was a big hit - and friends requested old favorites like "You're Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile" and "Unpack Your Adjectives." Each day we began with a dance warm up and talked about the importance of stretching. Depending on the day we worked on ballet, jazz, or musical theatre dance steps and then chose a song to make up a dance to! At the end of each class friends put on costumes, practiced their new technique, and taught me a few new moves as well!
Puzzle making was a fun project and throughout the week our groups explored different varieties and styles of puzzles. Our first couple of days, Preschoolers cut shapes from paper and glued them to cardstock making their own designs. They we discussed the number of puzzle pieces we’d like to cut our puzzle into. We experimented with 3, 4, 5 and 6 piece puzzles and talked about who we would like to have try our puzzles when we took them home. Isaac decided to make his puzzle into 3 pieces so his little sister Maya could try it at home. Matea created a puzzle with more pieces two days in a row to try and stump her Dad! Toward the end of the week, we experimented with using contact paper to cover our colorful shapes and designs. This turned into a great science lesson about static electricity when we found that our foam shapes magically floated up toward the contact paper. During the end of our hour, we worked together to build large puzzles after I divided all puzzle pieces between each camper. We all worked on using our words and asking questions to work together and finally complete our group puzzle.
OBSTACLE COURSE with KERRY
All of room 6 was our oyster this week. I let them have free reign on everything they could think to use, cockroaches excluded, no matter how nicely they asked. We built tracks from mats, trampolines from pillows, mazes with blocks, caves with silks and tables. Their imaginations went wild, and every day was different. One day we built what could be considered the preschool version of Gotham City. We all wore capes and became super heroes. As I was the last to pick my alter ego, and all the greats had been taken, I had to settle for Super Pumpkin Girl. We raced through our mini city stopping for pumpkin seed snacks when we needed a break.
FRISBEE with CAIT
This week, we found a myriad of ways to play with frisbees. We explored different ways to throw them (front- and back-hand, as well as various tosses) and tried to aim them into a goal. As well as trying throw along a line, or as far across the parking lot as we could, we played with bouncing frisbees off of the ground and the walls. They also make interesting hats, and can be fun to balance on your head!
GOOP with SHAWN
Creating our own sensory experience, many friends joined in to mix, mold, and make goop. Some days we created a silly putty like substance, while on others we focused on creating oobleck with cornstarch, water, and food coloring. We would start each day by discussing as a group what type of goop we would like to create, and what materials we will need to make it. While the putty was exciting to personalize with an individual color and small amount, the oobleck brought a partner and larger group aspect to the experimentation, often letting the substance drip over a neighbors hand, mixing colors with a partner, or showing how slippery it makes the containers. Goop was an exciting material to create and manipulate for our preschool friends!
SLACKLINING with GRIFFIN
This week we had the most popular summer camp of ALL time! Slacklining in the yard. It was so popular that we extended the camp another week so that more friends would have the opportunity to try this, physically and mentally challenging task. We tied the line to the fence in the school yard and took turns walking across the slackline. It took a great deal of focus to balance our bodies and walk the line. Each person was given varied amounts of support to scaffold their ability to strengthen their core and improve their balance. Some friends wanted to hold a shoulder while others preferred one or two hands. Friends worked on putting one foot in front of the other in a heel-toe style, and others took a sideway-stance shuffling their feet side to side. Some friends worked so hard to maintain their balance so intensely that they broke out into a sweat from the physical challenge that walking across the slackline presented. Toddlers in the yard watched with awe as the preschoolers completed their summer camp task. Friends waited in line patiently to have many turns to go across the line throughout the hour. I sincerely encourage parents to head to a climbing gym and give friends more opportunities to work on this skill.
BOARD GAMES with BRIDGET
Many thanks to the David family who brought in board games for us to play. The most popular were Candy Land, Chutes and Ladders, and the Hungry Hungry Caterpillar. A few kids had played board games before and enjoyed helping others learn them . For other kids it was a brand new experience. It was great practice in preschool skills like taking turns, and listening to directions, counting, and color identification.
DANCE with JILLIAN
I have had the opportunity to teach a dance camp several times this summer and this week I was so impressed by how well the campers remembered the songs and routines! Specifically, we incorporated some new songs and moves - stomping around to "We are the Dinosaurs" was a big hit - and friends requested old favorites like "You're Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile" and "Unpack Your Adjectives." Each day we began with a dance warm up and talked about the importance of stretching. Depending on the day we worked on ballet, jazz, or musical theatre dance steps and then chose a song to make up a dance to! At the end of each class friends put on costumes, practiced their new technique, and taught me a few new moves as well!
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
Pictures: August 12 - August 16th
PUZZLE MAKING with LISA
OBSTACLE COURSE with KERRY
FRISBEE with CAIT
GOOP with SHAWN
SLACKLINING with GRIFFIN
BOARD GAMES with BRIDGET
DANCE with JILLIAN
OBSTACLE COURSE with KERRY
FRISBEE with CAIT
GOOP with SHAWN
SLACKLINING with GRIFFIN
BOARD GAMES with BRIDGET
DANCE with JILLIAN
Friday, August 16, 2013
Schedule: August 19 - August 23
Next week is the last week for summer camps. It has been an amazing journey and we had a ton of fun. We will be taking a two week break following summer camps wrapping up to spend a little extra time with our soon-to-be kindergarteners, and another week welcoming new friends that will be joining our classrooms. Our next term of Ateliers will begin September 9th. More information on the atelier program will be coming soon. For now, our last week of summer camps will include...
JEWELRY MAKING with BRIDGET
PUPPET MAKING with JILLIAN
SLACKLINING with GRIFFIN
WATER WORKS with KERRY
TUG-OF-WAR with SHAWN
GARDENING with CAIT
NATURE PAINTING with LISA
JEWELRY MAKING with BRIDGET
PUPPET MAKING with JILLIAN
SLACKLINING with GRIFFIN
WATER WORKS with KERRY
TUG-OF-WAR with SHAWN
GARDENING with CAIT
NATURE PAINTING with LISA
Camps: August 5 - August 9th
SIDEWALK ART with JILLIAN
In Sidewalk Art we learned creative ways to decorate the parking lot! We started with simple sidewalk chalk and experimented drawing trees, tracing our shadows, and designing our own hop-scotch courts. Then friends were asked to dip their chalk in water and we explored the vibrant colors that wet chalk can create! Finally we talked about color and used paint to discover how we could make new colors by mixing primary colors. Combining our paint with soap and water we created Sidewalk Paint and added even more decorations to the street. By the end of the week we had explored the many variations of sidewalk art and the black pavement had been given a colorful makeover!
FORT BUILDING with BRIDGET
Fort building was very popular this week. We used various classroom materials to build our forts like tables, chairs, mats, rugs and silks. It was a great opportunity to work together building and problem solving. After forts were built we had time for some dramatic play. Some children became families in their forts. Some invited neighbors to dinner. One day all the forts were destroyed by an invasion of dinosaurs. It was a very exciting week.
POTATO SACK RACE with LISA
KNOT TYING with KERRY
In Knot Tying we played with ropes of all weights and lengths to discover new ways to, well, tie knots. I have been crocheting, knitting, doing macrame and even sailing since I was a kid, so I know a thing or two about knots. We mastered the simple overhand knot and learned to tie a slip knot. The slip knot was useful in our dramatic play throughout the week while we pretended to climb cliffs and sail the open sea. It was used to secure boats to shore, to help lift bodies up to mountain tops and even as handcuffs for a captured pirate (me). For those less interested in the adventure side of knots, I was able to teach some simple macrame. We made necklaces and bracelets that the participants were very proud of.
SLEUTHING with TERESA
Our master mystery solver mode was turned on for Sleuthing summer camp. Each day friends were faced with a different mystery to solve; the case of the missing turtle lovie, the disappearance of the shoes, water bottle vanishings, blanket banishment, and even an entire silk rack gone. We put on our thinking caps to either search for clues, create suspect lists, and deduce who the culprit could be. It was exciting to interview teachers for information regarding our mystery. On days when the answer was seemingly obvious, like finding our
DRUMMING with SHAWN
Drumming was a blast this week as we beat out our rhythms on a variety of materials. After exploring our standard drums, we examined the room for other options to create sound. Some friends found that canisters and pans work well, while others used the surfaces around them to drum.
In Sidewalk Art we learned creative ways to decorate the parking lot! We started with simple sidewalk chalk and experimented drawing trees, tracing our shadows, and designing our own hop-scotch courts. Then friends were asked to dip their chalk in water and we explored the vibrant colors that wet chalk can create! Finally we talked about color and used paint to discover how we could make new colors by mixing primary colors. Combining our paint with soap and water we created Sidewalk Paint and added even more decorations to the street. By the end of the week we had explored the many variations of sidewalk art and the black pavement had been given a colorful makeover!
FORT BUILDING with BRIDGET
Fort building was very popular this week. We used various classroom materials to build our forts like tables, chairs, mats, rugs and silks. It was a great opportunity to work together building and problem solving. After forts were built we had time for some dramatic play. Some children became families in their forts. Some invited neighbors to dinner. One day all the forts were destroyed by an invasion of dinosaurs. It was a very exciting week.
POTATO SACK RACE with LISA
This week in our Summer Camp we set up mats and pillows to
make a track. Friends decided to pretend that the carpet was hot lava and the
pillows were “hot stones” or “lava rocks” and the children challenged each
other with jumping over them! We used pillow cases as potato sacks and took
turns cheering each other on and counting times. During the last half of our
Summer Camp, I invited children to design their own tracks for each other and
children came up with creative ways to make their track more challenging. Some
friends had each other crawl on their stomachs with the pillowcases on and the
trickiest challenge was moving across the mats by crawling on their backs,
keeping the bags from slipping off!
KNOT TYING with KERRY
In Knot Tying we played with ropes of all weights and lengths to discover new ways to, well, tie knots. I have been crocheting, knitting, doing macrame and even sailing since I was a kid, so I know a thing or two about knots. We mastered the simple overhand knot and learned to tie a slip knot. The slip knot was useful in our dramatic play throughout the week while we pretended to climb cliffs and sail the open sea. It was used to secure boats to shore, to help lift bodies up to mountain tops and even as handcuffs for a captured pirate (me). For those less interested in the adventure side of knots, I was able to teach some simple macrame. We made necklaces and bracelets that the participants were very proud of.
SLEUTHING with TERESA
Our master mystery solver mode was turned on for Sleuthing summer camp. Each day friends were faced with a different mystery to solve; the case of the missing turtle lovie, the disappearance of the shoes, water bottle vanishings, blanket banishment, and even an entire silk rack gone. We put on our thinking caps to either search for clues, create suspect lists, and deduce who the culprit could be. It was exciting to interview teachers for information regarding our mystery. On days when the answer was seemingly obvious, like finding our
DRUMMING with SHAWN
Drumming was a blast this week as we beat out our rhythms on a variety of materials. After exploring our standard drums, we examined the room for other options to create sound. Some friends found that canisters and pans work well, while others used the surfaces around them to drum.
Pictures: August 5 - August 9
SIDEWALK ART with JILLIAN
FORT BUILDING with BRIDGET
POTATO SACK RACE with LISA
KNOT TYING with KERRY
SLEUTHING with TERESA
DRUMMING with SHAWN
FORT BUILDING with BRIDGET
POTATO SACK RACE with LISA
KNOT TYING with KERRY
SLEUTHING with TERESA
DRUMMING with SHAWN
Monday, August 12, 2013
Schedule: August 12 - 16
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Summer
Camp
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With
Teacher
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Puzzle Making
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Lisa
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Obstacle Course
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Kerry
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Frisbee
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Cait
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Goop
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Shawn
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Slacklining
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Griffin
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Board Games
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Bridget
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Dance
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Jillian
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