We were lucky this week to have some warm enough weather to be able to play with water, and even go barefoot! It may be the last chance for awhile, so it was nice to get it in. On the playground, the children have been enjoying lugging bricks here and there, often using the wagon to pull a whole load. The big blocks were used to build a pirate ship, and the popular food to catch was octopus, which they ate happily on board the ship. When the children get exhausted, they often wind up resting in the nooks and crannies found in the hay bales. Some new paintbrushes added into the mix this week inspired some "painting" with water.
Inside, the children have been enjoying using our heavy beanbags to create beds for their kitties, or roads to carefully walk on. Our circle time this week is all about leaves, and our finger plays are a fun way to mimic the movement of leaves. One that the children love goes like this, see if they can show you the movements:
Autumn leaves are falling down
They make a carpet on the ground
Then SWISH! the wind comes whistling by
And sends them dancing to the sky
All the leaves are falling down
Red and yellow, orange and brown
If you listen, you'll hear them say
"Wintertime is on it's way!"
Fingerplays seem like just a fun little game to play with children, but they work on the child's development in so many ways. Fingerplays engage the child's attention and allow their hands and their brains to work together to imitate careful movements. At the same time that they're imitating fine movements, they are repeating careful rhymes. The movement and the rhyme must come at the same time, neither being too fast or too slow. So we are engaging the brain, the voice, the ear, the hands and the eyes all at once.
Autumn leaves are falling down
They make a carpet on the ground
Then SWISH! the wind comes whistling by
And sends them dancing to the sky
All the leaves are falling down
Red and yellow, orange and brown
If you listen, you'll hear them say
"Wintertime is on it's way!"
Fingerplays seem like just a fun little game to play with children, but they work on the child's development in so many ways. Fingerplays engage the child's attention and allow their hands and their brains to work together to imitate careful movements. At the same time that they're imitating fine movements, they are repeating careful rhymes. The movement and the rhyme must come at the same time, neither being too fast or too slow. So we are engaging the brain, the voice, the ear, the hands and the eyes all at once.
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