Oscar's turn to host...

Super late on posting this...

When we met at our place, we read a very English book called 'the tiger who came to tea'. We made collages with yarn, tissue paper and feathers using contact paper, which we all agreed was rather easier than glue. Oscar opted out of circle time and mummy opted out of outdoor time (busy with boobs). Everyone played beautifully together.

Word of advice (though possibly this related to my previous session) - don't get the musical instruments out until you're actually ready to use them. The kids fell upon them greedily and pretty much lost interest in singing the songs.

Fall Leaves Day

Discovery (10 mins)

Hello Song (Alex played the guitar)
Old MacDonald (kids supplied the animals--that's progress)
Happy Birthday (To Eli)

Melted into Dance Party because Oscar said "Let's dance it up"
We danced to "Palito" (un poco de espanol)

Outside Activity: Leaves
We ran up and down the street and ran through the leaves.
We pointed out the sound and the various colors.
Next, we gathered leaves and scooped them into a leaf bag. (There was variable interest here and at one point everyone was lined up at the gate clamoring to get out)

Snack time: Banana Bread

Story: Leaf Man (A-can you supply the author). Only Peter was really listening. Everyone else was drumming on the table. It was kind of hysterical.

Art time: Leaves on Hand Tree (cut out brown paper in the shape of a hand). Kids applied colored ribbons (read: leaves) to the tree and used crayons and pencils to decorate. Not a big hit with the boys but our resident girl seemed to dig it.

Bubbles and Goodbye-although there was a fair amount of lingering and some more free play this week.

We noted that the kids are playing better together than ever and seem to know the "schedule'. That said, not everyone joined in for songs or stories

Girls Discovery

A Little Video of Yesterday

Notice which activity takes over

*inspiration*

*b l o g s*

The Artful Parent
eensies - inspiring parents, promoting learning & healthy development
My Sidewalk Chalk - Brooklyn Family & Education
Urban PreSchool


what else?

*book suggestions*

Reading With Babies, Toddlers, & Twos: A Guide to Choosing, Reading, & Loving Books Together - Susan Straub & KJ Dell'Antonia

First Art - Art Experiences For Toddlers & Twos - MaryAnn F. Kohl, Renee F. Ramsey, Dana Bowman, & Katheryn Davis


please add on!

developmental suggestions from baby center

Just got this one:

Other developments: Puzzles and pictures

At 23 months, your toddler may have the brain power and fine-motor skills to complete a jigsaw puzzle that's composed of three to six pieces. She may also be able to draw circles (don't expect them to be smooth yet), in addition to vertical and horizontal lines. See if she can build a tower of six or more blocks or is coordinated enough to press "pop" beads together or string large wooden beads on a cord.

Give her opportunities to fine-tune her finger and hand work by scooping up and pouring out sand or birdseed, pouring water, squeezing moldable compounds like Play-Doh or even bread dough if you like to cook together. Have crayons and paints available for her to create art with, and let her see you writing and drawing. Then watch how she tries to imitate you.

co-op structure

Here's how we generally organize our time together!

discover time/centers (10 min)

--clean up--

circle time - stretch + songs (5 min)

movement - dance party! simon says? (10 min)

activity - rice! (10 min)

outside - draw with chalk/bubbles (10 min)

read a book (nursery rhymes) (5 min)

bubbles (2 min)

closing song (2 min)

Animal Movements

Discovery: Toys and cups for about 15 minutes.

Clean-up

Hello Song,
Fall Song (listen to the leaves falling one by one, when we rake them up, we're going to have some fun, listen to the birds in the trees so high, don't you wish that you could flap your wings and fly?)
5 little ducks

Activity: Animal Circles
We walked in a circle and roared like a lion
swung our elephant trunks
barked like dogs (?)
hopped like bunnies (and frogs)

We rolled on the floor and slithered like a snake

We also did some yoga (down dog, happy baby, child's pose, and cobra)

Snack (bunnies and raisins--thanks Katy..)

We closed with some peek-a-boo and went to the park

Great shop for resources

Just wanted to share that there is a school supplies store at 166 Livingston St between Smith and Hoyt. They have loads of arts and crafts stuff, useful books etc. at reasonable prices. Enjoy!

Pumpkins

Today, at Anna's, Pia, Alice, and Bijs went kind of nuts. There was a great amount of getting flippant with frocks. Snack seemed to take over so yummy muffins, cheese, (tea for the adults), baked yogurt drink (thanks Jenn), apples and cereal mix was had and had again. "Hello" was sung. Then Anna cracked out her research. She taught us a Five Pumpkins Song (perhaps I can convince her to share the words and post them). A Witch song with a Boo. A few rounds of "Ring Around" and Jenn taught us a great finger song (with one verse that no adult will ever forget)--again, I'll have to encourage some posting to share with other co-ops. We did some stretching but today the girls weren't as into yoga as they typically are so it was mostly the adults getting out the kinks. After that, the girls let us know they were tired and running for buses, shoes and strollers ensued. It was a lot of fun. Hurray for co-ops.

Painting Co-op

Discovery Time: I will test out the blog for Sophie. This morning at Sophie's we had a grand ol' time. We includes Oscar, Bijs, and Peter as Eli didn't join us today. The kids discovered the IKEA trains for a few minutes. Peter was taken with the singing tri, Bijs with the teddy in the stroller and Oscar was wondering who were the weirdos in his home.

Clean-up. We sang the song and everyone did a remarkable job of cleaning up!

Circle Time. We sang "hello". We played with some super cool musical instruments. We danced to the Beatles. We sang "Open and Shut Them". All the children wished for more singing, but the adults were DONE.

Snack Time: Today we had raisins, crackers, and apples and everyone said "yum, yum".

Book: We read a book about Barnyard Animals with soft, touchable pages. We read it twice and there were excellent participatory moos and baaas from the crowd.

Activity: Sophie, aka Superwoman, was brave enough to pull out paper and PAINT. It was a fantastic hit and the finer points of dots and lines were covered. We all washed our hands at the sink and I think Sophie's house was not entirely ruined which is kind of incredible.

Bubbles: Because it was pouring rain, we stayed inside for bubbles.

We didn't do a formal close today because we were having too much fun. Instead, we started to color and use stickers and these adorable tracing mats which Sophie received as a gift from her sister. Oscar, Bijs and Peter created a wild game of Peek-A-Boo and then chase at which point we decided to start encouraging the putting on of shoes and coats.