This week we spot lighted different shaped and colored buttons for collage art.  The goal of collage art is for children to learn about creativity and themselves.  It provides an opportunity for young children to experiment with shape and texture and color.  It allows young children to practice with art tools and materials to independently create a child-directed “masterpiece”.  When it comes to collage making, as with most preschool art, don’t expect your child to end up with a finished project that looks attractive to adult eyes.  Certainly some children manage to create a stunning masterpiece, but most don’t.

Our Big Book of the week is entitled “Button, Button.”  An activity in the classroom this week is button sorting.  Four children decided on their own to add science goggles to this activity.  Attributes such as size, color, shape, texture, and number are becoming important to three-year olds because they are beginning to discriminate likenesses and differences between objects and to recognize the properties of the objects around them.  Sorting is a pre-math skill.

Today the children did a relay game.  They had to squeeze a bean bag between their thighs, walk to a container and drop it in without it falling to the ground, crawl through a tube, bang a drum, and then run back.  The teachers demonstrated it first. Relays reinforce oral directions, agility, coordination, and large motor development.  They also teach the importance of cooperation, conforming to following rules, and winning and losing graciously.  But best of all, it’s fun, exciting, and the children enjoy cheering for each other.

“Happy Birthday to Aunty Bri.”  Aunty Bri turned “legal” today.  We made a birthday card with our handprints on it for her.

Some children made “leaf soup” today.  The ingredients were basil leaves, tomato leaves, pumpkin leaves, dirt, and worms.   They gathered the ingredients and put them in a tub.  Then we filled the tub with water.  They used garden shovels to mix the “soup.”  Three year olds can be egocentric.  Working and functioning as a group on a common interest, goal, or project provides children with a positive opportunity to work cooperatively and collaborative.

One of our garden boxes, designated as “dirt digging”, became a popular place to be during backyard choice time.  Remember the rotting pumpkin at Halloween?  Well, over the winter break, the seeds sprouted and started to grow.  The children enjoyed digging them up.  It was a perfect day to discover the properties of mud.  As they were digging in the mud, they found non-living things (rocks, sticks, roots) and living things (worms and bugs). 

Some people believe that boys should not play with dolls.  In  the preschool classroom, we can tell you, boys do play with dolls in the Home Area.  Dolls help children to learn how to be gently to babies. Dolls allow children to be nurturing and caring.  Dolls help children role play parent roles.  After all, one day, your child may grow up to be a parent someday.  Today, two boys took really good care of three babies at the same time.  It was heartwarming to watch.

Today, we balanced bean bags on different parts of our bodies.  Then we balanced and danced with our bean bags to a song called, “Bean Bag Dance.”  You may hear your child sing the chorus at home.  It shouts, “We’re doing the Bean Bag Dance.”  A song like this is a fun way to teach concepts (body parts), develop gross motor skills (balancing), and develop music competency (rhythm and beat).

Wishing our ‘ulu keiki and their families a great, happy, and blessed new year.  We started the 2013 year with only 11 children today.  A few are sick, a few are still on vacation, and one child moved to Maui.  Today, the children started tooth brushing.  To alleviate a crowd at the sinks, the three year old keiki brush teeth after snack time and the four year old keiki brush teeth after lunch.