Because of the mild weather and at the request of the children, we spent extra time outside on the playground this morning after our walk. Despite an ominous looking cloud in the distance, it stayed dry and fairly sunny! The children divided themselves into several groups to play. One group created and acted out a campfire scenario. They built a campfire using hula hoops, wheels, and straw. To add to this, Elliana, Lane, and Aliyah gathered up broken foam pieces that had come off of a pool noodle to use as marshmallows for roasting! This play scenario grew in complexity with the children adding new elements to act out a story about a night spent outside camping.
In addition to their creativity in developing this scenario, I was also struck by the leadership skills that the children from our classroom displayed in involving children from the Magnolia Room. Since the majority of the children in the Magnolia Room are younger, their pretend play skills are not as well-developed as those in the Dogwood Room. However, rather than simply shut out the children from the other classroom, the children from our room who were working on this story actively attempted to involve the other group. They demonstrated how they wanted them to participate by showing them what to do and giving them suggestions on how to play a part.
We are lucky to be able to continue to spend a lot of time combined with our friends in the Magnolia Room. The time that we spend together nurtures the development of both groups of children in a variety of ways! We truly are an Andy Taylor Center family!
Back inside the classroom, we continued work on our mailboxes. While I had thought that we were finished painting and were ready for the next step, the children decided that they still needed to paint the inside of the boxes!
In addition to our project, the children continue to pursue interests in movement and dance. It has been neat to watch them incorporate new elements into their exploration from their studio experiences. One prominent example of this has been from our yoga activities. Today, I looked over to find nearly all of the children spontaneously doing yoga poses together!
Movement Principles & Concepts are addressed in the Virginia Foundation Blocks for Early Learning’s standards in Health and Physical Development Block 2. The Virginia Department of Education states the following about Movement Principles & Concepts:
Movement in both personal (self-space) and general space is navigation in one’s environment that allows the child to develop motor skills, self-awareness, self-esteem, and social skills critical to his/her ability to learn. Children gain the knowledge of movement by practicing the concepts regularly during structured or unstructured movement opportunities offered both indoors and outdoors.
The child will use the movement concepts of directions, levels, pathways, and effort while performing locomotor (move body from one place to another), non-locomotor (move around axis of body), and manipulative (move in conjunction with object) skills.
To meet this standard, as well as promote healthy physical development, we continue to offer daily opportunities for exploration of movement throughout our preschool day. Our gross motor explorations, both indoor and outdoor, are some of the most important activities that we do during our day!