Cold Enough For Penguins & Polar Bears

We may not have gotten as much snow as out east, but it sure is cold here. Cold enough for penguins and polar bears. So I gave in and thought, "why not celebrate the cd?" I gathered all the polar animals ~ penguins, polar bears, moose, snowy owls (even a couple cats were brought to the mix!😀) toys that l could find and then found all the cold weather themed books. It's been a fun inside cozy kind of morning. (Mentally, I am still wishing for June-like weather.)

Have a playful day & stay warm!

Size doesn't matter

 Size doesn't matter...I know what you're thinking.  But when it comes to play, size doesn't matter.  Children do not care about equal proportions when it comes to their playthings.  Yesterday, I came across the above grouping.  It was Papo and Schleich and Lego horses with Lego Friends as the horses' caretakers in a Breyer barn.  And it was magical.

 Here, Papo polar bears play harmoniously with Duplo and Little People polar bears.  Children naturally categorize and group like items.  And it's okay.  Kids don't have to have all the same brand or the entire playset of something.  I have found that the less the play is directed, the more the imagination kicks into high gear.

Why is that important?  Play is learning.  Let me say that again. Play IS learning.  As a child acts out a scene where the Lego Friend take care of the horses, it is imagination at work.  But it's also language - they are creating a story, acting out a scene, using vocabulary, describing what they are doing, engaging.

"Imagination is more important than knowledge." -Albert Einstein  Now, who's going to argue with genius Albert Einstein??? :)  Play is important - uninterrupted, unscripted, undirected.

Rainbow Treehouse Animal Hospital

 So when a 4 year old says, "I have a plan", you take notice.  Not only did she have a plan, she had a mission.  She wanted to make an animal hospital for her little animals, but she wanted it to be a treehouse..."So the giraffes won't have to strain their necks."

 I saw her vision and made a pattern.  I cut it out of cardstock to make it easier to trace onto the cardboard.  I just did a simple tree shape (no art degree needed here!).  I cut two and notched out the second on.

 The tree slid together then l made "shelves" out of spare pieces of the amazon box (they have the best boxes!)

 Then it was time to paint :) - time to add the "rainbow"!

 Of course, we had to have a sign..."So the animals know where to go."

 And we added a popsicle stick ladder.

 Then it was time for the animals to get care.  Two Lego Friends girls were the vets and took excellent care of the animals - both wild and domesticated.

 Stretchy Cat rested after her shots.

 Panda nibbled on bamboo after his exam.

 Giraffes, ponies, pandas, cats, dogs, llamas...all were welcome.

I am not sure how the pony got up in the treehouse - yes, I do - with the imagination of a four year old.

"Imagination is more important than knowledge."
-Albert Einstein

I think we will create more tree treehouses for our collection of Schleich, Papo, and Safari Ltd primates.  The possibilities are endless with this.

Egypt in Preschool

My co-teacher (partner-in-crime is more like it!) Brooke and I decided to embark on a voyage around the world this summer with our preschoolers.  We began with Egypt.  I made the pyramids from thick yellow cardstock - literally 4 triangles glued together. I cut a section out of the front one for access.  Safari Ltd. makes an Egyptian Toob (we love Safari here).  I found some random palm trees in the block area. We sprinkled a mixed of cornmeal and gold glitter to make the desert sands.  It was a fun and educational week.