"Under the Sea" Painting!

This week, we launched our "Under the Sea" summer theme for Green Room. As we look forward to the hot days of summer, we are so excited to bring the ocean into our classroom.



This week, our activities were around painting. Teacher Lesley brought pasta shells so that the kids could paint on and with some "shells"! The jumbo pasta shells were the perfect size for little hands and the kids loved holding them and painting with them.





















We also did some more easel painting outside, which is always a fun change-up for the kids!
















Then, we brought in sea sponges so that the kids could paint with those. The soft, porous sponges were fun for the kids to hold. The effect of the sponges dipped in paint created a unique look on the paper.



























This eventually evolved into more painting with pasta shells!










Stay tuned for more "Under the Sea" adventures in Green Room!

Love,
Teacher Katie

Sensory Bottles!

Friends, I have a confession to make. I am OBSESSED with sensory bottles! I've already made six of them for Green Room and I still want to make more. I was first inspired to make some for the week leading up to Earth Day after I read this blog: http://littlebinsforlittlehands.com/earth-day-discovery-bottles-earth-science-activity/



I was so excited to try making some of our own for Green Room. The first bottle I made was a mix of water (dyed blue), baby oil, and blue and green decorative glass pebbles.



It's fun to shake the bottle vigorously and then watch the bubbles pop as the oil slowly separates itself from the water.












I made two glitter bottles as well, one green and one blue (Earth Day colors, of course). The blogs that I consulted for these call them "Calm Down" bottles because of the calming effect of watching the glitter settle to the bottom after shaking the bottle. Clear glue mixed with the water slows down the glitter as it falls.






Baby E. particularly enjoys watching the glitter in the bottles swirling and sparkling!









I also made some color mixing sensory bottles:



These bottles are a great way to explore how different colors interact! When you shake them, the two colors mix together to create a new color. Then, as the liquid settles, it separates back into the original two colors.

Our Green Room kiddos love to carry the bottles or roll them across the floor.







For the science behind these bottles, check out the blog where I found the inspiration and instructions: http://www.preschoolinspirations.com/how-to-make-a-color-changing-sensory-bottle/

Love,
Teacher Katie

Baby Doctors

For many weeks now, our friends have enjoyed taking care of the baby dolls that live in Green Room. They like to pat the baby dolls to sleep while gently shushing them, just like they've seen their teachers do when we are putting a kiddo down for a nap! They also like to rock their baby dolls and sing lullabies to them, again imitating what they have seen their teachers doing. It is so neat to watch them practicing these skills and developing their social empathy!






Recently, one of the baby dolls (NOT one of our actual kiddos) suffered a crack in its arm. We sent it to the "baby hospital" (i.e. the kitchen) for some TLC. However, R. was very concerned about this baby doll. She kept asking us to open the door so she could see into the kitchen and check on the baby doll. To help her process her concern, we got down our play doctor's kit. We set her up with a plush stethoscope and blood pressure cuff so that she could do a check-up on all of the other baby dolls. After she gave Teacher Katie a clean bill of health (whew!), she spent some time lining up the baby dolls and examining them.








We're so glad that we have our Green Room baby doctors around to keep our baby dolls in good shape!

Love,
Teacher Katie

Our Painting, Planting Project--Part 2

Teacher Kristina helped us make beautiful butterfly decorations on flower pots, using each child's unique foot prints to make the wings of the butterfly. After the pots had plenty of time to dry, she brought in planting soil and flowers so that the kids could experiment with planting!





What fun! A bin full of soft, crumbly soil with its earthy smell and grainy texture...



We set the pots in a plastic sensory bin, along with some planting soil and scoopers and shovels, so the kids could play with the soil and even try scooping it into their pots.










A. enjoyed stacking the pots and scooping up bowlfuls of dirt.




L. loved the feel of the soil between his fingers. He especially liked to pick up handfuls of it and watch the soil sifting through the air!







L. was very focused on filling up her bowl with soil and then pouring it into her pot.










L. and F. were delighted to have the sensory bin outside.



Baby L. was a little skeptical of the soil at first.



But a scooper in hand helped assuage his skepticism and pique his curiosity!








Teacher Kristina showed us how to dig a hole in our soil and break up the roots of the flower a little bit to help it settle into its new home.









Happy Spring everyone!

Many thanks again to Teacher Kristina for helping our Green Room kids explore their green thumbs!

Love,
Teacher Katie