Cutiosity!

Collage

Collage work is a great way to explore shapes, color and spacial relationships. On this day we taped sticky white contact paper to the table (we did not want them to focus on the glue, but the shapes and space instead) and provided them with paper and foam shapes, rick rack, pom poms and feathers for a variety of shapes and textures. Each child worked in his or her own way - some grouped colors and shapes, others used a play theme (the bridge or bad guy) and GM and FF spent almost an hour working on theirs! We were surprised to see that nearly all of the children spread out the pieces and attempted to space them fairly evenly. FF and NK are still able to look at each collage now hanging in the room and tell us who made it!

Collaborative Castle

This was one of those rare and special times when ALL the children connected to the play, even little CH! It began when we introduced the large Duplo blocks and the children asked us to help them start building a castle (note the Snow White dress and the castle theme). Soon all the children were carefully attempting to add to the structure. We are fascinated when the children seem to understand and respect an event such as this one, joining in the building in a constructive way, without breaking the structure or stepping on it. This is a huge step in young children's play and we are always working towards those type of respectful interactions.

AV's Favorite Toys

AV especially enjoys playing with the animals but the giraffes are clearly her favorites. AV will carry the mom, dad and baby giraffes around for long periods of time, occasionally stopping to turn them towards each other and have them interact. They interact on the table, the floor, the windowsill and our laps! Sometimes one of us will enter her play and connect to the giraffe family world. We have some very interesting conversations!

Baby J Joins the Group!

FF Organizes

Princess Dance Party

More of JM's Handiwork

Making Cookies

Leaves!

A and C

A Treat for the Birds

G Enjoys a Book

Cutiosity!

We Don't Know Either! : )

Sensory

Doctor

FF Helps NK

We'll Miss You, CM!

We're sad to announce that CM is no longer with us. We've had CM for the last two years and her smile and personality always brightened our day. We will miss you, CM!

A Visit From OA

We love when children who have moved on come back to visit! (hint hint!) It is always wonderful when children re-visit and get a chance to be ALUMNI! OA always enjoyed clay and playdough so we brought some out to assist him with re-connecting. Here we are having a discussion about things we have made in the past when OA was with us and that gave us a chance to go over the rolling movement used in clay work. Working with clay/playdough offers multiple avenues for creative thinking, fine motor work, language development and more. OA was a catalyst for many of our experiences.

Spaghetti Day!

Spaghetti is one of the children's favorite lunches. The children are making progress with utensils but spaghetti is tricky because of the noodles and sauce. They gave it their best try! Overall all the children are comfortable with forks, but spoons prove more of a challenge. We just continue to offer them and allow the children to practice.

JM Makes a House

Occasionally a child will spend more time on an activity than usual. On this day JM began work on this Lego house and continued to return to the house and add to it. He would carefully add a Lego, evaluate it's use, and then either move it or try something else. JM has rich imaginative play ideas, and he took great care to explain to M who the man outside the house was and why he was there. We asked him where you enter the house and if he planned to add more items to it in the future. When a child is engaged over time on an activity we attempt to extend their ideas and challenge their thinking. It is a careful give and take that requires patience and listening. Young children will work a little harder at finding language to communicate if they feel you are truly interested and ask questions that are open ended. Here are some questions we use to help you get started:
What are your plans for .....
How will you do......
What if I wanted to....
What if you wanted to...

Cleaning Up, JM and AN Style

Well, we asked and they did it! "Hey, A and J we need to clean up so we can go outside - would you clean everything up off the floor?" As you can see they did just that. : ) Even though this type of "cleaning up" can be frustrating, it is an attempt at organizing a large number of items. We had to take a photo of this because they worked a long time at getting all those toys to fit, looking at shapes and spaces that would fit, and we have to appreciate the process. After this, we decided to reduce the number of toys in the room and find better dedicated space for things, so that cleaning up and concentrating is easier for the children. Its an ongoing process!

Crawling Under

Ever noticed that when children will nearly always find the smallest possible space to squeeze into? It seems to be human instinct to make a fort or hide away in a private space. On this day AB got some early training in early hide-n-seek. We loved the images from this day and wanted to share. Enjoy!

Helping a Friend

On this day CM needed help putting on her shoes so that we could go outside. AN, who is usually willing to help the other children, is careful and patient with her. It's important to note that most of the time the children do not want anyone to touch their shoes! Shoes and personal items are usually off limits and only accessible to someone with whom they've formed a trusting relationship and AN is one of those friends.

More Glasses

As promised, here's another post about sunglasses and this one has the added bonus of dancing! Have you ever noticed that dressing up is often accompanied by dancing? Changing outer appearances gives children the chance to try on a different persona - eyes are hidden or clothing offers a new identity. Of course children love to look at themselves when they look different so we created a dress-up corner dedicated to this activity.

A Very Sad Day

This post will be out of order, but I wanted to write this while it's current. Today was AV's last day - her family is moving out of state. A has been with us since she was four months old and its been a pleasure to watch her as she's blossomed and grown over the past few years. AV will be missed a great deal, but we wish her and her family all the best in this new chapter of their lives

Our Kids

The Store

Creating a store (the chair is the counter) is another popular play sequence. JL and AN are deepening their play with more complex interactions. They regularly set the chair on it's side, pile up toys behind it, and wait for customers. If none are forthcoming they will yell out "store!" Wesupport the play by giving baskets to other children for shopping, making signs, and supplying items to sell such as empty food boxes. Eventually the store is abandoned, but will be re-created at a later time. With mixed ages imaginary play is often transferred from the older to younger children and everyone benefits. Again, we use this play as a time to deepen thinking with questions like, "how many can I buy?" or "how much is this item?" or by asking them to offer solutions to problems: "I don't have any money, how can I get some?" We also encourage items in the store so we can shop more easily. The options are endless!

Hello? Hello?

Mimicking adults is a common occurrence and one of the ways in which children learn how to behave and negotiate the world - its one of the highest forms of learning! Here AV grabs the play phone and reenacts a conversation. Because she sustained this for such a long period of time we chose to document. AV obviously realizes the phone has great potential for communication and emotional responses. Her animated facial expressions tell us that she enjoys this form of play, which like most children's play is rooted in real-life interactions. We take advantage of these opportunities to enhance language and increase vocabulary.

Lining Up

We believe that lining up objects is one way that children can organize their world and it also often indicates a strength in mathematical/logical thinking. This is a frequent activity for AN, and here he has lined up the letters on the refrigerator as well as the larger buses and cars. Coming soon - AN opens a store!

Let's Draw!

All of our children enjoy drawing, especially with easy-to-manipulate markers. Most of them are already gripping the marker and making marks in purposeful ways. While they do this, we usually we move from child to child and observe quietly. After a time we may ask them to tell us about a symbol that we recognize or the story behind the drawing. Here, JM was clearly was drawing people. Early writing usually begins with scribbles and then moves to mandalas (circles) and from there to more complex marks. Drawing images is a way to successfully communicate with others your ideas without having to write letters, and we celebrate their symbolic drawing. Though it can be messy, its a good idea to frequently offer writing utensils and paper to small children - you may be surprised at the results if the materials are out on a regular basis!

JL and Duplos

This is an example of sustained focus, showing that very young children can remain engaged in a task or activity for long periods of time. Here JL has built a wall and is playing with Duplo people, creating a lengthy storyline and imaginary dialogue for his characters.

Ring Around the Rosie

Ring Around the Rosie has been sung for hundreds of years and evidently holds a universal appeal for children. Whenever we sing Ring Around the Rosie the children immediately look for others to hold hands and take the fall! Their laughter is delightful. In our work with children we've found that singing simple lyrics and walking in a circle are something all children like to do...sing and spin! There is research on the benefits of spinning and the sensory input that it gives us, shedding light on why these small people do the things they do.

By the way, according to www.snopes.com, Ring Around the Rosie is most likely *not* related to the plague as most of us have been told.
http://www.snopes.com/language/literary/rosie.asps

Sunglasses

Sunglasses provide a never-ending source of amusement for us. Our laughter may be part of the reason the children enjoy attempting to wear them. When the children dress up we usually locate a mirror so they can see and they are delighted with their altered appearance. F has a great sense of humor that allows us to have more complex exchanges. Look for another series of sunglasses photos that took place recently.

Bug

Hard as it may be, we try to resist the urge to brush off bugs when CM is around! She has absolutely no fear of them, and on this day she found a beetle and allowed it to crawl all over her. She was very careful with the bug, talking to it and placing it in different locations. As we have observed in the past, CM is completely fascinated by the natural world!

Back at the Salon...

Over the course of several weeks, we have been watching AV approach different children and gently play with their hair. She is particularly interested in relationships and typically moves close and tries to join in whenever the children form a group. She likes to be involved with all the interactions she witnesses whether they are with materials or other children. On this day we were able to capture her lifting FF's hair while she finished eating. It was a purposeful exchange with F allowing it to happen and A being gentle and purposeful. We suspect that this exchange might have been triggered because we have spent a great deal of time showing how to touch others gently and softly. A seems to enjoy this exchange and tries it out frequently, stopping periodically to look in the other child's face and talk to them.

Baby Baths

After noticing the children's interest in babies, we thought it might be a stimulating activity to wash the babies outside. It was actually AN's idea, as he is very interested in all babies, real or pretend! The baby bath was a huge hit and the children proceeded with great care and gentleness! Note that this interest developed shortly after AN joined our group of learners.

Basket Hat!

The Caterpillar

Spring is here and worms and caterpillars are everywhere! On this day we found a caterpillar (moth) and were able to observe it up close. Note that the children's facial expressions reflect disgust and curiosity at the same time. N, our neighbor and friend, spends a great deal of time working in her organic garden (if you get a chance ask to visit - it is fabulous! Mom is a Professor of Horticulture and Dad is a scientist at the CDC so we have wonderful experts about nature a few doors down!) and does not hesitate to touch the caterpillar. Mel attempted to keep the caterpillar on her arm for as long as she could so they could have look and take their time deciding if they wanted to touch the caterpillar. N's ease with touching it prompts the others to give it a try. We are thankful that we are able to use the environment right outside the door for experiences with nature.

Hugs

During our time together we experience all types of physical play, which has meaning and purpose. Young children often use physical touch to communicate. In this series of photos, FF and JL, who are good buddies, were enjoying an embrace and maintained it for awhile.

When we (Cheryl or Melinda) move to the floor the children each come to us to receive some form of touch (hug, sit on lap, touch hair, etc.). In many ways this physical contact deepens our relationships and it is a human need that is often overlooked or ignored. Children crave that contact and it helps them feel safe and grounded.

Muffin Tin

We took this photo because CM enjoys finding just the right-sized items to fit into the muffin tin. We see this arrangement frequently and decided to document it. Each of the children do unique things that are specific to them. Watch for more posts on this topic as we observe each child's individual way of interpreting the world and representing their ideas and thoughts.

The Box

JL (and all the children) loves a box! On this day he spent a great deal of time putting items in it and carrying it around the room. Children seem to be fascinated with the idea that you can hide things and then reveal them again. You can take objects you have had in your environment for months that have held little or no interest for your child, hide them in a purse or box and they become fascinating! In this instance J choose to put in a book, car and block.

Utensil Practice

Picking up on the interest generated by watching AB eat, the children responded to using utensils with a renewed interest. We talked about them growing older and eating by themselves. They are using utensils successfully, albeit a little messily, here.

Towers and Lines

JL enjoys a rare solitary moment at the Lego table and builds his tower in order to knock it down, an activity he particularly enjoys. This is a fairly common pattern with almost all the children when they are working with Legos. Some build the line horizontally and then build a vertical tower, while others line the Legos up on the ground and later transfer that to the table. Its a good reimder that there are many wasy to do things and the children are showing us their thought processes. It is a privilege to observe their thinking and to learn from them in a reciprical relationship.

AB Eating

AB is now eating food and its a great source of interest for the other children! While A eats, the others gather and watch intently. They are curious about the texture of his food so we discuss teeth and why his food is gooey. Everyone looked in A's mouth for teeth and then used a mirror to look his or her mouth. Each day they watch us feed AB and new questions surface. Its a great opportunity for discussions about things like food, teeth, tongues, utensils, nutrition and more.

Cutiosity!

Baby Play

We've noticed an increased interest in baby play lately and extended this play by staging a baby wash outside. We noticed that several of the children were later attempting to change the doll's clothes and put them down for a nap. We joined in the play by talking quietly when the babies were "sleeping." We asked them if the babies were sick or just taking naps, and they told us that they were sleeping (great language practice). JL was the first to move his baby close to him for a 'snuggle.' AN placed his baby nearby for a nap. Once the babies woke up we talked about changing their diapers and keeping them clean. The boys immediately began to wipe and clean the dolls. Playing with dolls offers wonderful opportunities for the following types of growth:

-broadening perspective of others (babies need a caretaker)

-ceveloping compassion (Baby is hurt and crying - how can we help?)

-practicing complex thinking (what happens when the baby is hungry and we have no food?)

Small figures are great to take on trips too, for deep imaginative play in small spaces.