FEBRUARY FUN!!!!!!!!!

During February we did many activities that concentrated on fine motor skills. These included making Valentines for the birds by stringing fruit loops onto a pipe cleaner to hang outside, transferring marbles from one container to another with tongs, and lace up cards.

Groundhog's Day was so much fun as we got to play with our groundhog on a stick. Not only did we learn what a groundhog was, but the concept of opposites was introduced---in and out, up and down.

After Groundhog's Day, and studying shadows, what better Valentine's Day gift for mom and dad than a shadow of myself. Some of their silhouettes looked like them, but many of them looked more like that scampering groundhog who couldn't wait to escape back into play.

Here young Dr. Carter shares her wealth of knowledge with her fellow friends. I wonder if she too will follow in her dad's footsteps????????

We were very grateful to Tess's Dad, Dr. Carter who gave each one of us a dental kit so we could practice all we learned about good oral hygiene this week. To show our appreciation, we decorated extra large teeth to give him.

Our happy and sad teeth helped us distinguish healthy and unhealthy foods for our teeth. The only problem was what we thought was good food wasn't always good for our teeth, however we got the hang of it after a few rounds.

We made a healthy" munchy mouth" snack of apple slices and peanut butter. The peanut butter held in our very white marshmallow teeth. :)

The children are junior dentist getting the black cavities out of the teeth. How intensely those little hands worked.

Ms Angela did an experiment to show what our teeth would look like if we didn't brush them by soaking a hard boiled egg in sugary coke. We all decided we didn't want our teeth to look like that brown egg. YUCKY!!!!!!!!!!

Ms Angela read us a book about the proper way to brush our teeth and then we practiced with our paper toothbrushes.

We looked at our teeth in individual mirrors and discussed the importance of brushing.

Our bags were overloaded with candy and cards.

Adding the final touches to our valentine holders before we gave out valentine cards.

Hearts, hearts everywhere. Can you match the tops and bottoms? We liked to fill them with marbles and sand and all kinds of treasures.

Match your part with the missing piece and then you got to sit by your friend during circle time.

Ms Angela taught us a new song called "I Love Myself." During this month of February we learned to love ourselves and others.

This picture says it all. I'm so proud to be me and all I can accomplish.

PAJAMA DAY!!!!!!!!!

We use our sticks for rhythm, the concept of opposites loud and soft, and to form letters like T,L,and V.

Part of our winter fun week was painting with edible paint on our Rice Krispie snowman. Yes, of course, we got to eat this colorful creature and the snowflakes. There were three snowmen and 13 children so this was a good opportunity to share.

Santa brought us a new set of wooden bowling pins with numbers on them. It is important that we take turns setting them up for each other.

Penguins are one of the winter animals we studied. Here Ms. Jana helps the children make tongue depressor penguins.

Both of these girls were so proud they were taller than a Emperor penguin. We used our math as we counted 18 blocks to reach the top of the penguin. They wanted to measure their stuffed animals too.

Creativity is displayed in simply giving the children big sheets of paper and markers. Fine motor skills are part of ths activity as well as social verbalization.

ICE ICE ICE

A hands on experiment -going from a liquid state of fruit juice poured into ice cube trays to a solid state of tasty popsicles. Yummy !!!! We kind of like this science stuff.

We practiced our cutting and gluing skills when we made these polar bear puppets. Of course, we had to perform with our puppets.

These ice cubes looked good enough to eat, but we decided to use them as brushes for our ice painting.

We discovered many creative ways to get the treasures out of the ice. Although you'd think we were digging for gold by the amount of hard work we did, we were learning about how and what makes ice melt.

SHAVING CREAM FUN

One of our favorite activities this year has been experimenting with shaving cream. What a tactile experience, and our room smelled so good!!!!!!!

We read books together or individually about the snow.

Cotton balls became our play snow in the discovery table and in our snow pictures.

The cold weather may have kept us inside, but it didn't dampen our spirit or our energy. We imitated the animals, as we crawled and danced to the music.