Recently, at Terra Luz (Krista)

Hello my friends!

Ocean Exploration:

As you know, last week, we concluded our exploration of ocean life and sea animals. This short-term project evolved over the course of a couple of weeks, and was the basis for lots of learning such as: vocabulary building, sharing of personal experiences(community building), great conversation and imaginative play.

Day 1-3: Ocean animal categorization. McKenna's mama donated loads of great ocean animals to Terra Luz, and our first step was to categorize them. I offered the children a plastic bin filled with an assortment of sea animals and they sorted the animals by type and size on the light table. They used my Animal Encyclopedia as a reference. Throughout the project, we read books about ocean life and ocean animals, listened to whale songs and recorded ourselves imitating whale songs...ask me and I'll play the tape for you!

McKenna: I saw the ocean at California. Sharks have sharp teeth.

Damon: This octopus has suction cups on his legs.

Jalie: Those legs are tentacles.

Corbin: Whales filter the fish and water.

Mia Gleinser: Walruses have tooths that are long and that's why they aren't seals.

Mia S: I want to do more categorizing!

Allie J: We're discovering things that live in the ocean.

Jason: The shark eats up everything!

Atticus: The whale needs water!

Anika: Squids squirt ink.

Natalie: Hey! I have a movie called, Monsters Inc. at home!

Days 4-7: The children made seashell impressions in clay and collaborated on a large-scale mural of an ocean habitat.

Day 8: The children munched on nori wrappers as they created ocean habitats using sand from the sandbox, water, sea salt, sea shells and the plastic ocean animals.

Days 9-11: We poured the 3 ocean habitats into the large sensory table and let the children explore and play to their hearts' content!

Earth Day: The children had such a great time painting and 'glitterizing' boxes and egg cartons from our stash of recyclables. Some of the boxes and cartons were used in a construction project, and we used the rest to create 'mobiles'(I use the term loosely ;)) that are now hanging on the patio. We read lots of books about the importance of taking care of our Mother Earth, and composted peels and leftovers from snacks and lunches. I think that it's wonderful that such young children understand the importance of caring for our planet and feel empowered to do so!

Looking Ahead: Christine and I have been talking a lot about what the next few weeks might look like. We are, of course, always listening to the children's interests and looking for common fascinations to expand upon ...AND, at the same time, we have been talking about the fact that we have an Atelier full of great creative expression materials, so, we plan to make the best use of the great resources that we have. We plan to offer more creative expression opportunities every day, both indoors and out, so please dress your children in clothing that can be enhanced with paint, glitter and glue, and please pack extra extra-clothes in their backpacks ;)!

happy weekend! xoxo