Penguins & Arctic Study

For the past couple months we have been doing Artic Animal study we learned about a lot of different animals, that live in the Artic, but penguins and polar bears were the favorites. My kids really love penguins so we did more activities for this animal then other Arctic animals. At the end of learning about them we watched the movie March of the Penguins. 

This was a craft where you make the outside shape of half a penguin and then fold it in half. To make a whole penguin. Then they used cotton balls to make snow, Ryan's has en egg in his pouch, and Aaron's is in a wind and snow storm, and Ethan's is on an ice burg.

To also help learn some basic "creative" skills we made these stuffed penguins. The boys designed them. I drew it out on packing paper then we used that as a pattern to cut out and sew together our penguins. The boys were really involved with this, I was thinking of doing a basic square or rectangle with the colors of a penguin and we could add a face but noooo, they wanted it shaped like a penguin. Then Ryan said he wanted a pouch to put the egg in, and Aaron wanted a fish to feed his penguin. This project took way way way longer then I had intended, but it was great to see them involved, they also sat with me and help sew them, they stuffed them, and played with them tons, and now sleep with them too. 

one side of the baby is an egg the other side a baby penguin- that was my addition to the ideas flowing... love love love fostering creativity and showing them how they can make things happen. Ethan designed the feet idea too.

not really at all about animals, but just for fun since we were learning about snowy places. Bananas, apple, grape, carrots and raisins. Saw this in family fun magazine, and I did it with out candy :)

We also learned about polar bears this were some cute masks I saw on pinterest, made with a paper plates, Popsicle stick, cotton balls, felt for the nose, and you mix shaving cream and Elmer's glue I think they said equal parts but I just guessed, it did take a long time to dry but was really fun.

we also watched Arctic Tale at the end of our Arctic Study.

Preschool Learning- through organized play...

I do not have a fancy degree in child learning, I did take a child Development class in college but I honestly remember very little. I am reading a book called "Tools of the Mind" which is interesting but also seems to find a lot of "deep science" type studies from what seems like common sense to me. But there are also some great things I have learned that I did not know. It is not an easy read though- very thick with science terms and facts, and fancy words! 

One of the things I read in there was the power of organized play, and to be honest I think they had a more fancy term for it. But that is what I like to call it. What you do is give the child 2-3 options of things to play with. Things that flexible in play, and can be used in many ways. Blocks, containers etc. They get to use great development skills by looking at each option, and then making a choice. 

 Then they are Free to play as they want,  but they are to clean up, before moving on, and there may also be a time limit as well (keeping the idea organized) but still giving them freedom to be creative. There are to be no other things/toys around them, this helps them to stay focused on this creative play. Also to clean up when done teaches them to take care of there things. The time limit helps them to learn  and understand that time is in periods or segments.

 We do this organized play at times when I am working with another boy, these ideas that Ryan can choose from are listed in his binder, I do help him see his options and he picks then plays. Cleans up (not always happy about that). He goes get much Total free play as well.

 Some things he likes are the containers and mini animals, I got those at ikea, really cute. He loves them. Here he is playing in our rice box. Cost $6 bucks, $1 for the container, $1 for the plastic bugs, $1 for plastic lizards $1 for the shovel and rake and $2 for the rice.

 Another activity he likes to do is draw with chalk, he is free to do what he wants but I give him letter cards too if he wants to use them. He drew the letters ridding a roller coaster!