All the new fun!

Awwww, we are so cute ;0)  That will never change, but with our new room, we are exploring so many new things and having so much fun.......

And we are keeping so so busy................

snakes in the making!

Ever since our reptile show, we have been hooked on snakes!  We have been making such wonderful things out of play dough, that we want to keep our creations permanent........sooooooo

we are using real clay to make snakes, and one "monster" ;0) 

Jack wants to make a monster instead of a snake! ;0)

Clay, like water and sand, has a natural appeal. Children enjoy working with

these basic mediums because there is no separation between them and their work.


Having direct contact with the clay allows for a completely different experience.


This provides a good break from using markers, crayons, paint brushes, or other


tools. A line with a crayon is unchangeable, however a long coil of clay can


become a snake, then a bowl, then a snowman. The possibilities are endless


and children enjoy this freedom to transform their creations.


Working with the clay becomes a whole body experience and encourages both


large and fine motor development. Children pound, pinch, roll, flatten, poke, tear,


squeeze, coil, stretch, squash, twist, and bend their clay into all sorts of shapes


and sizes. When children stand to do these tasks, they engage their whole bodies.


Working with clay, children learn the subtle ways to manipulate clay to create


what they want.


Working with clay is also a multi-sensory activity. Clay can feel slimy and wet


or it can be hard and dry. Different clays have different smells and colors.


Children hear two unique sounds when they squeeze wet clay though their fingers


and when they pound the clay onto the table. As children learn to pick up on all


of these subtleties they are strengthening their sensory skills.

Snakes, Turtles, and Lizards!

We were so lucky we got to sneak into Noah's birthday party!  He turned three last week and for his birthday, he brought a reptile show to our school!  We saw so many snakes, lizards, a tortoise and a turtle!

The turtle took off and enjoyed munching on our grass in the playground!

Some of us had never been so close up to such a big turtle!

We were fascinated with all of the different types of snakes we saw!  It has inspired us and now it is showing up in our art work.......

"snakes" by Timothy

"I made snakes" by Raina

"This is my green snake.  It has one purple eye that Amanda made and I made a green eye" - by Ereeni

"My snake!"  by Natalia (notice the two red eyes!)

"Snakes" by Ryder

Aidan, however, was more into the cows in the book he was reading, so he made a "cow going moo!"

Amanda did her first series of snake art! ;0)

This is a picture of a snake and a penguin..........

"The snake is with the penguin.  The penguin is scared of the snake!"

She was so excited to use a pencil for the next picture........

"This is the snake that is looking at a penguin"!

We cannot wait to see where the children will take us next, but we are so excited about how their art work, and language is developing.  We are also spelling our names on the backs of our paper after we finish drawing.  They are so smart that they are even recognizing each other's names!

The International Winter Festival 2010