Caves and Burrows

Looking more closely at the winter homes we saw illustrated in yesterday’s book, we decided to try our hand at creating our own.  Today we explored creating caves and burrows using supplies in our block area.

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Child A: “We almost had the same idea, but then we didn’t.”

Child B:  “Yeah, but we were building the same thing, but I didn’t have enough blocks.”

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“Now….how do we make roofs?”

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Child A: “Oh my gosh! I know how to make this!”

Child B:  ” Me, too!  I have a great idea!”

Child A: “No, no…I have a great idea.”

Child B:  “We need a little help.  It’s like, falling over.”

Child B:  “How about we slide it in and it holds it?”

Child A:  “There we go!  And put these here.”

Child A and B: “Yea! We did it!!!!”

 

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Child A: “We need that roof on there.”

Child B:  “We need something to block them.”

Child A:  “We…..aaaaaaaaa [blocks fall down]…That’s ok!”

Child B:  “This is the shelter so the relaxing place doesn’t get rained on.”

Child A:  “This is where the garage is and this is where the balance beam for them to walk on.”

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“We have two animals and they are separate.”

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“I’m making a nice cave for my bear to live in.”

“I’m going to change my burrow, now.  My cave is going to be different from my burrow.  Caves are on the Earth, up top, and burrows are underground.”

 

North West City

Last week, a handful of the students transformed into architects and spent several days creating a city landscape in our block center. The city included parking lots, a school, an airport, a zoo, and of course lots of buildings! Each day, the students added more features to the city such as walls (to keep the animals from escaping), bridges, and more road signs.  They also designed maps for their city in case it ever needs to be repaired or remodeled. Then, this week, one of the students proclaimed that it should be called North West City. Each day, the city expands and develops into a more intricate design.

The students have worked together to problem solve when the buildings have fallen apart, where to put new structures, and what to do when they ran out of blocks. The collaboration and synergy has been effortless and is proof that that our once young, wide-eyed students are now confident and ready for kindergarten.

What if two friends want to play different things?

A common problem in Pre-K occurs when two children wish to play together, but they both want to play a different “game” or “story”.  We often hear that “She/He doesn’t want to play with me!” when the real problem is that she or he doesn’t want to play one child’s story.    It takes many experiences to realize wanting to play separate games is not the same as exclusion (a #1 No, No).

Here is a story from one of our Morning Messages that we used to demonstrate the common problem.  I’ve also included the solutions our thoughtful young friends devised:

Once upon a time, two friends were playing in the loft.  Sally wanted to play kittens but Harold wanted to play something else.  Now they are arguing.  What should they do?

  • They should talk and figure out which one to play first. -Re
  • They should think of a solution and start playing what they want to play. -So
  • They should play one game and then the other. – El
  • They should talk to each other. -Ra
  • They should make the ideas together. – O
  • Play something else. -Sa
  • They should use their imagination and decide what they should play and then play together. – Ca
  • They should think like Tucker Turtle and think of a thing they should do. – Cl
  • Tucker Turtle goes to the park. -A

And in other parts of the room……

Working together on a BIG project.
Working together on a BIG project.

Even large projects are possible if you remember to build it one block at a time.
Even large projects are possible if you remember to build it one block at a time.

And so the entire block area was blockaded from the rest of the room.
And so the entire block area was blockaded from the rest of the room.