Wow, what an incredibly long week... Thankfully, our school only has one more week until fall break and then we're off for 2 weeks!! I am so excited to be able to actually spend some time at home creating lots of new goodies for everyone! So, before the weekend starts, I thought I would link up with Doodle Bugs for a Five for Friday post and show everyone what I've been up to. Be sure to check out all the other wonderful links:
So, like every other classroom on the face of the planet, my kiddos have difficulties taking turns during sharing time. I have been looking all over the place for a solution to at least cut down on the interruptions and decided that, because I teach such a young group (Pre-K), I needed something very visual. Raising hands to take turns was just not working (surprise, surprise) so I decided to go ahead with an idea that I had briefly contemplated over summer break.
We had gone to Colorado over break to see family and, while at the YMCA, we had the opportunity to make walking sticks. Of course both of my girls wanted to make one and, because my younger one is shorter than the average adult (I know, crazy, right?), they had to trim a stick down for her. Being the resourceful person I am, I grabbed up the chunk they cut off and saved it for what I call a sharing stick. I finally had the opportunity to make it this past week and put it to use. So of course I started out by sanding and painting it. Then I found some yarn I liked (I must have been going for a peacock look or something...)
This is my finished product. I just wrapped the yarn around the center to create a bit of a handle and knotted it after every few wraps so it would stay put. Then, when I got it as thick as I wanted it, I double knotted it, added some beads, and voila! We introduced it today and the kids love it! I think they are so excited to get to hold it and see it up close that they were OK with sitting quietly and waiting their turn. Plus, the few times someone tried to interrupt, I was able to say "Oh wait, who has the sharing stick?" and they were able to stop and wait their turn. Big hit!!
Then, for our cooking lesson this week, we decided to make pancakes. We had been talking about solids, liquids, and gases and, to finish up the 3 weeks we spent on it, I thought they needed a little treat. We of course talked about what state of matter each of the ingredients were and what we thought would happen if we mixed two solids with two liquids. Plus they loved to see how a liquid (the batter) can change to a solid (the pancake) when it is cooked.
So this was the sweetest thing ever... Being the first half of the year, we still do rest time in our classroom. These two actually fell asleep holding hands... Talk about true friendship! So cute I just had to share!!
Finally, I've been kind of venturing away from what I already can do crafty wise and found a tutorial for what's called finger knitting online. I think it is probably a technique meant for kids but I loved it!! All you need is a ball of yarn and your fingers. It doesn't even take a lot of time to do! I ended up making this chevron-ish infinity scarf in one night and I plan to list it in my Etsy shop (plus make a ton more!) so make sure to check it out!!
Enjoy your weekend!!
Katie
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