Lil Orioles Corner #18
January 17-20
From Tot's Corner: Dustina & Tom
Week 18: Fun with Boxes
Here's a look back at the toddler's week:
It was another week of transitions in our classroom, and the box exploration continued. However, after celebrating another birthday in the EP classroom on Monday, the toddlers showed a strong interest in birthdays. We decided to shift the focus to birthdays based on the toddlers' interests. This was not a surprise to us. Birthdays are exciting and fun, especially for toddlers. While some of us may disagree with that statement, it isn't about us. ;) Also, toddlers enjoy the repetition because it helps them learn, provides practice opportunities for mastering new skills, and is familiar and comforting to them. Repetition also helps improve toddlers' speed, confidence, and the brain connections that aid in their learning.
With that being said, we spent another week reading “The Birthday Box” by Leslie Patricelli.
We continued to work on these vocabularies:
Baby
Box
Hat
Birthday
Cake
Eat
Present/gift
Open
Candle (light, blow, gone)
Robot
Sailboat
Airplane
Dog
Blanket
Sleep
We were able to play in life-size cardboard boxes that had been transformed into a boat, sled, airplane, robot, and nap box. These boxes did not make it. a sign of usefulness!
The toddlers got to explore the birthday-themed sensory bin. They had the chance to play with colored rice, spoons, silicone muffin liners, and candles to make their own "birthday cupcake." It was a big hit with the toddlers.
Fun Tidbit:
Playing in the sensory bin is more than just a messy extracurricular activity in our classroom. It is a fun and exciting tool that is essential for growth. Sensory bins are an important tool for the development of toddlers.
The five senses are involved. (touch, hearing, sight, smell, and taste)
Self-regulation skills are being developed.
By adding vocabularies to the basic concept, it can promote language development.
It is a way to practice fine motor skills such as scooping, pouring, and so on.
Experimenting allows toddlers to learn how the world works.
Math abilities are developing.
Emergence of critical thinking abilities.
Imaginative abilities improve social and emotional skills.
Developing life skills and gaining independence in a safe environment.
Learning through play promotes brain development.
In addition, we painted and made birthday crowns. (Yes, our class had no birthdays, but we went all in!) We also had the opportunity to use a party blower! Each toddler received their own, which was then placed in their cubbies. That was a lot of fun to watch!
This week has been a week of adjusting, celebrating, and creating memories together.
Onward to Week# 19: Winter:
We'll start our winter unit by exploring all things winter, beginning with our winter attire (hat, coat, gloves/mittens, scarf, boots), learning how to make a snowperson, and making hot chocolate. Please send your child's winter clothing so that we can use it for fun activities that we have planned.
PS: We're hoping for some snow to make it an even more awesome unit. Making realistic connections would be far more amazing.
Have a wonderful weekend and see yall on Monday!
Dustina & Tom
Snapshots of the Week in the Toddler's World
Birthday cake in box
painting with squares
painting with squares
From EP's Corner: Gina & Stacey
In the Early Preschool Room, we had a busy but fun week, and our Early Preschoolers are settling nicely into their new routine. Here’s a recap of what we did this week.
Our Weekly Focus was on the following:
Color: Brown
Shape: Square
ASL Handshape: 5
During our Morning Meeting, we focused on getting to know everyone’s name/name sign, as well as each child recognizing their own (and others’) name in print. Everyone is doing such a wonderful job with this!
- Celebrated another birthday and got together with the Toddlers’ Class for a yummy birthday snack. Happy 3rd Birthday to Lily!!
- Learned and acted out different vocabulary related to our book, “Not a Box” by Antoinette Portis. A great story about how a box can become many things if we use our imagination.
Vocabulary we worked on-
Box
Birthday Cake*
Candle*
Race Car
Mountain
Firefighter
Fire
Robot
Pirate
Hot Air Balloon
Elephant
Boat
Rocket
*From last week’s book, “The Birthday Box”
- Reviewed sizes (big, medium and small) with boxes and worked on putting 4 boxes in order by size from big to small.
- Acted out prepositions IN, ON, IN FRONT, BEHIND, BESIDE (NEXT TO) and UNDER with a big box.
- Reviewed sorting paper birthday candles by color and counted them (this activity was related to last week’s book, “The Birthday Box”). We also had the chance to blow out a real candle, which was fun! We were warned that it was hot and that we should not touch it.
- For art, we made: a square collage by making paint prints with square boxes, a rocket using various shapes (square, rectangle, triangle, circle), and different creations with white sparkly playdoh.
- We wrapped up the week with a cooking activity—we made chocolate pudding! Both ingredients came from boxes (pudding mix and milk from a milk carton), and the pudding was brown (our color for the week). We had fun taking turns putting the ingredients in a bowl and mixing them together with a hand mixer. The best part, though, was EATING IT! Yum!!
-Gina & Stacey
Snapshots from the EP's Room
Happy 3rd Birthday, Lily!
From PE Corner: Shaina & Harmony
Tamijo Coleman is returning this Monday, and we are all excited to have her back! I had so much fun teaching your child. I’ll miss them, but I’ll see them around in the hallways :)
The pictures attached below are of the yoga pose of the pink bird, aka flamingo. Ask your child to show you how to do it! :)
Starting soon, the kids will do obstacle courses with the materials in the Gross Motor room. It’s a good problem-solving exercise as well as one that builds gross motor skills.
Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.
Have a good weekend!
Shaina & Harmony
Notes:
As you know, we are all adjusting to the new changes that are happening in the toddler's world, which has expanded. We would like to thank you for your patience as we navigate through this transition. We aim to send out our newsletter on Fridays; however, due to the changes and new additions to our world, the delivery time may vary. Fret not; it will continue to come on a weekly basis. It's one of our favorite things to put together!
As always, you can reach us via email. Feel free to contact us.
Have a wonderful weekend and stay warm!