Little Explorers

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• Friday, May 2- This is our last session for the school year. We will meet with the We Two class from 10:00-11:15 am on our main campus at 8 Park Road. The Zoo to You program from Oglebay will be visiting with us!

I cannot believe that today was our second to last session together. It feels like yesterday that we were introducing ourselves and exploring the space for the first time. The kiddos have grown so much the past few months and have proven themselves to be excellent little explorers and learners. This week brought a little bit of everything to our centers. We continued to enjoy the thrill of finding eggs, cracking them open to find trinkets and treasures inside. Soapy water and sponges helped get some our eggs cleaned and ready for more play. The play dough made its way to the light table, mixed with some shiny bowls and pipe cleaners. Watercolor palettes were provided to help paint different kinds of dried pasta. It turned more into pasta soup, but why wouldn’t you put the pasta in the water? A previously worked on canvas came down from the wall to be adorned with pom poms, gems, string, and wooden leaves/butterflies. Our green couscous came back but in a larger tub (or pool) mixed with funnels and spoons. Lastly, the trampoline, balance beam, and large black boxes made for some fun gross motor activity.

We finished with our story, If I Had a Dinosaur by Alex Barrow, and our best version of the Dinosaur song yet.

I am excited for next week but also a little sad because I know it means our time together is coming to a close. I hope you consider our Summer Sessions and/or joining me again next school year.

Have a great week!

Miss Claire

CLICK HERE FOR UPCOMING WCDS EVENTS

• Friday, April 18- No session- Spring Long Weekend
• Friday, April 25- 9:00-10:15 am at Northern
• Friday, May 2- Our last session! We will have a special visit from the Oglebay Zoo to You program in the Community Room on our main campus from 10:00-11:15 am.

It is always so fun having our sessions on our main campus! I just love seeing our youngest learners exploring and playing in such close proximity to our oldest. The room was a buzz with the joy of Spring and Easter as we gathered together to explore lots of new materials. Beautiful watercolors were added to wooden bunny and flower pieces, as well as egg-shaped paper. Our sensory bin was well-visited again, this time with a few extra treasures hiding in the mix. The little duckies even went for a swim and got some extra love today. A small world set-up brought color changing lights, bunnies, gnomes, and tiny homes together for some whimsical interactions. Our playdough and Model Magic was given even more life with more color and a plethora of loose parts. There were some very interesting sculptures made, full of imagination and texture. The light table was adorned with lots of pom poms and translucent letters, helping us bring pops of color to black and white flowers. What is a day of Easter explorations without a plethora of eggs, baskets, bunnies, and chicks? There were squeals of excitement as eggs were popped open to reveal tiny treasures and baskets were filled with lots of goodies to cart around the space.

We finished with our story, Easter Starring Egg! by Cynthia Platt and our best songs. I hope you all have a wonderful holiday and see you soon!

Miss Claire

CLICK HERE FOR UPCOMING WCDS EVENTS

• Friday, April 11th- Little Explorers will meet from 9:00-10:15 am on our main campus at 8 Park Road. We will be in the Community Room, which is the big room right across from the playground.
• Friday, April 18th- No sessions- Spring Long Weekend

I was so happy to see everyone this week! I had missed being a part of all the amazing learning that happens when the kiddos come together. While the day was rainy and a bit gray, we had some cheery explorations happening in our space. Lots of marks were made on our playdough and Model Magic, turning them into some beautiful marbleized pieces. A sensory bin filled with bright green lentils and pearl couscous brought some fun experiences as the students filled eggs and dug for carrots, bunnies, and dinosaurs. We explored emotions this week as we made faces out of cork circles and loose parts. The mirrors and images of real child emotion helped us achieve that. Our light table was filled with all things shiny and reflective, including lights, beads, containers, and ribbon. The block area was busy with car activity, as well as train driving and block stacking. Strainers mixed with pipe cleaners got our little fingers working as the students pushed and twisted the fuzzy stems together. The area that filled the room with some fun giggles was our hanging hula hoops. Covered in plastic wrap, the students found the best ways to dap, swish, and glide paint on the vertical surface. Most of it made it on the surface, but there was some that ended up in the hair and on faces. We wouldn’t be true artists if we didn’t get a little messy sometimes!

We finished with our story, The Color Monster by Anna Llenas and all of our favorite songs. We had lots of dancing this week and I just love seeing the students becoming more and more comfortable with each other.

Thank you for an amazing session and see you on campus!

Sincerely,

Miss Claire

CLICK HERE FOR UPCOMING WCDS EVENTS

• Friday, March 21st- We will meet together at Northern from 9:00-10:15 am. Miss Stephanie will be covering this class.
• Friday, March 28th- We will have a combined session from 10:00-11:15 am at Northern.

What a special treat it was to have our youngest learners on our main campus today. They truly showed themselves as little explorers as they took advantage of the Preschool room and more importantly, the outdoor spaces. With the weather feeling like Spring, we had a science table full of things to investigate, including flowers, seashells, rocks, and pinecones. Chalk and oil pastels made for some interesting mark marking on black construction paper and various kinds of sand paper. Our animals needed some saving from some tricky rubber bands, which were then used on our giant geoboards. The most loved space of all was the ampitheatre and the outdoor space outside of SK. There were stumps conquered, pavers jumped on, and pebbles scooped.

We gathered together for a yummy snack and Dr. Seuss’ Mr. Brown Can Moo. Can You? Our favorite songs were sung, including a wild animal freeze dance with our scarves.

I hope you all enjoy this beautiful weather and have a great weekend!

Miss Claire

CLICK HERE FOR UPCOMING WCDS EVENTS

• Friday, March 7th– Spring Break- no sessions today
• Friday, March 14th– Little Explorers will meet from 9:00-10:15am in the Preschool classroom on our main campus (8 Park Road). You can park at the colored shelter, walk up the colored stairs, and take a left at the top of the stairs. Follow the sidewalk and walk past the gym (it will be on your right). The Preschool room will be on the left right by the ampitheatre.

The sunshine and warmer weather brought some energetic kiddos today! There were lots of giggles, squeals of delight, and amazing learning happening. New blocks were introduced on the big rug, including foam ones, Bristle blocks, and Duplos. The playdough was mixed with our stamps and rollers, a pleasant invitation for making fun imprints. One table was transformed into a magnetic wonderland filled with cans, the Magna Tiles, our magnetic balls, the magnetic people, and pipe-cleaner filled bottles to use with our wands. Several sheets hanging from the ceiling mixed with the overhead projector and puppets brought out lots of fun shadow discoveries. The chunky Stabilo crayons and oil pastels welcomed lots of markings to a different kind of surface…mirrors! A crowd favorite this week was the indoor “playground” that included our tunnel, stepping stones, a mini-block mountain, and a trampoline. It was so sweet seeing the students sharing the new items and meeting up for some cozy conversations. We read Bee My Friend by Caroline Richards and even danced like bumblebees with our colorful scarves.

I hope you all have a great weekend and see you in a few weeks!

Miss Claire

CLICK HERE FOR UPCOMING WCDS EVENTS

• Friday, February 28th– We will have our session at Northern from 9:00-10:15 am
• Friday, March 7th– Spring Break- School is closed
• Friday, March 14th– Little Explorers will be held from 9:00-10:15 am on our main campus. More details to come!

What a chill vibe we had this morning during our time together. All of the students seemed quite content moving freely from provocation to provocation, taking part in everything that was offered. Our rice bin became quite the tea and coffee bar as black beans and our tea set items were added to the mix. Doilies, lace, large buttons, and translucent pattern blocks made for some interesting designs and patterns on the wall. A bonus was seeing the students making marks using markers on the large paper on the wall. A large collaborative canvas we had worked on last semester returned with an invitation to glue a variety of loose parts, including pom poms, yarn, buttons, colored papers, and felt shapes. Shaving cream covered an entire table and was scraped, painted, and rolled with a plethora of fun tools. Our dinosaurs stomped through our block area and inspired some excellent singing. Fluffy white “snow” was dripped and squirted with liquid watercolors, making for some fantastic color mixing. Lastly, a giant table and chair fort was created, offering a cozy space for the kiddos to hang out and chat with each other. We finished with our story, Pete the Cat’s Groovy Imagination and our favorite songs.

I hope you all have a great weekend. Stay healthy and warm!

Miss Claire

CLICK HERE FOR UPCOMING WCDS EVENTS

• Friday, February 21st and Friday, February 28th– We will meet together from 9:00-10:15 am at Northern.

• March 2-9– Spring Break, No Classes

All you need for a great Valentine’s Day is some curious kiddos, amazing parents, balloons, and a lot of glitter and sprinkles. Today was a beautiful morning filled with lots of love. Our cakes we “iced” during our last session were covered in colorful sprinkles, lots of glitter, and beautiful flowers. I can’t wait to display them for all to see. The strawberry play dough returned with our cookie cutters, rollers, glitter hearts, and tiny puzzle pieces. Heart-shaped sponges in water made for a fun sensory bin. Our light table was covered in lace and adorned with neon balloon dogs, fillable candies and hearts, and lots of loose parts. Homemade valentines are my favorite and it was so sweet seeing the kiddos stamp, mark, and sticker heart doilies. All of the blocks were out this week, as well as our Beanie Babies, making for some interesting animal homes and schools. The cube was a hit again, filled with hanging heart balloons and lights. The gifted musical stepping stones added an extra special touch (thank you Charlotte).

I think my favorite part of the morning was seeing all of the students sharing in some sweet Valentine love while they received special treats from their friends. We finished with our story, Tiny T. Rex and The Perfect Valentine, reminding us that friendship is the most perfect kind of valentine.

Thank you for bringing all the love today and see you next week!

Miss Claire

CLICK HERE FOR UPCOMING WCDS EVENTS

• Friday, February 7th- no sessions- Winter Long Weekend
• Friday, February 14th- We will meet together at Northern during our normal time, 9:00-10:15 am.

What a fun session we had today, filled with lots of good belly laughs and bright smiles. The students got right down to business, visiting each provocation with enthusiasm and gusto. We had cars zipping along the road, moving under tunnels and down some ramps. The play dough smelled of yummy strawberries and helped us make delicious Valentine’s Day treats with our cookie cutters and sparkly hearts. Paint was swirled and dabbed on tin foil with the best painting tool ever, our hands! Large, squishy noodles were added to some water and stirred as a large portion of “soup”. Some of the kiddos enjoyed interchanging the heart-shaped doilies on the light table, marking with classic markers. Several foam cubes were slathered with a homemade puffy paint to make the start of some pretty awesome mini-cakes. We will be using those again next time. Our sensory bin was filled with Valentine’s Day goodies, including colored rice, confetti, rubber duckies, mini-cups, and champagne flutes. The most visited area of our classroom was definitely the cube as it was transformed into a “funhouse” using long streamers, twinkling lights, and hanging balloons. The belly laughs and smiles that filled that space were everything today and made for a great morning on such a rainy day.

We finished our time together identifying animals and making their sounds while reading our story, Snowflakes on Our Tongues by Mike Ornstein and singing our favorite tunes.

I hope you all have a great upcoming week and see you soon!

Miss Claire