Things are already beginning to settle in this week with children learning the routines and stories. It is sweet how they eagerly anticipate the arrival of each of their friends and they are preparing little "scenarios" for their friends to take part in. We've had submarines and boats and of course fire trucks. During our large gross motor skills circle time, they wait until their friends have done their task and encourage the ones who are hesitant about climbing or rolling.
The children have heard two stories all week long. The story I tell with my props has been "Little Spider's First Web". I love this story because it reminds me of some of the children's sweet, encouraging side. The story is about how a little spider begins spinning her first web and it sets off a chain of busy, excited behavior among the other little critters. The big spider swings on her web because she's so happy about little spider; a fly comes along and when he finds out why big spider is so happy, he begins to hum, and so on. At last the children characters in the story see all the activity and they too are happy. It's a sweet and gentle story that helps set a tone for our nursery. Then at lunch, the children have been listening to the longer story of Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel. One of the nice things about stories of steam shovels or big workers of some sort or another is that it encourages children to use their energy in play that imitates work and to honor that strength inside of them. They'll put their muscles to work digging in the sandbox to build a town hall of their own, or climbing up the ladder to see a "fire" in the distance.
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