Room 5 has been acquainting itself with the season of autumn through sensory integrations in our classroom learning centers. We have pumpkin spice mixed in with our sensory bin, autumn jewels alongside our playdough, and today we did “No-Mess Fingerpainting” on paper leaves to decorate our classroom! 

Some friends decided to imprint their playdough with the autumn jewels while others saw an opportunity to build a landscape of “trees” by sorting out and only using the leaf jewels to stick up straight in their playdough! When children take place in activities that build on their fine motor skills (like making prints in playdough) they are learning about  basic concepts of physics like force, quantity conservation and other other components of cause and effect. They are also engaging in language development as we discuss and describe what happens to the playdough and gems while they work. For example, “The jewel sinks into the playdough when you push it down” is an observation we made which inspired a conversation about homonyms! Some words sound and are spelled exactly the same but can have very different meanings… which is a lot for a hard-working brain of only two years to make sense of! By talking through these fun quirks of language with their teachers, and a first-hand example, these abstract concepts are made much more concrete to our young friends! 

Our mess-free fingerpainting activity had many scientific and sensory learning points as well! Our young friends were amazed as they ran their fingers all over the paint on their leaf and found absolutely none of it transferred to their hands! We covered the paint with a clear plastic bag and they got to smush and swirl it all around to their hearts content without getting any on their bodies- what a trip! We talked about the qualities of different materials and why their hands were not messy as they painted. Perhaps the best part for them was the unveiling of their beautiful work of art at the end as they peeled away the plastic from their leaf to reveal a vibrant mix of autumn colors. 

Room 5 is learning so much every day in so many ways and we are exceptionally grateful to the loving and amazing families who bless us with their children each day. Room 5 parents contribute so much to our classroom to enrich their experience (and help their teachers out!) that we can’t help but gush at the awesome blessings we have before us. May peace be with you all as we enter this season of thankfulness and praise. 

Room 5 has done a lot of art exploration with our Apple theme! We mixed cinnamon paint with sparkles and oats last week to decorate our classroom, and this week we are getting bubbly with baking soda and colored vinegar! We worked on our pincer grasp by sprinkling baking soda onto our apple cut-outs and used fine tip brushes to paint our glittery colored vinegar over it. Then we watched the reaction fizz! The joys of art and science combined as we created our fizzy apple art this week. 
lol 

Today our preschoolers got to show their gentle side and meet some of God’s fluffiest little creatures. We had our own private petting zoo! Room 5 walked all the way up to the Big PCS Campus and gained some first hand experience on connecting with animals with the help of some trained experts and the loving care of their teachers. They had a magical time getting up close and personal with their furry friends!

As teachers, we are constantly being reminded the glory of God’s creation when we get to work so closely with your little ones. It was a real joy to provide your little guys with the opportunity to feel wonderment and protective over a life so much smaller than them! Today’s petting zoo was a wonderful experience which reinforced the truth that the Lord entrusted us all to take care of each other- not just humans but plants and animals as well. Each life is a precious gift here on Earth and at preschool we like to take time out of our busy days to acknowledge and marvel at that.

May peace be with your families this weekend. We pray that we all have some time to marvel at and appreciate one another.

“Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.” – 1 Peter 4:8 (NIV)

Room 5 had a wet and wild first session of Fun in the Sun Summer Camp here at PCPS!

We’ve learned about God’s creation, Noah’s Ark and the Great Flood, the baby Moses in the river, and Moses growing up to free the Isrealites! This week we are also playing with the theme of Derby races! We are measuring force and learning cause and effect with our hot wheels launch pads, creating art using linear and symmetrical track marks from toy cars, and outside we have pool noodle pony races. We’ve included some fireworks art to extend the Independence Day celebrations of our long weekend, and as always- we still love setting the theme with a great book. This week we are reading, “Wake Up Engines,” by Denise Dowling Mortensen. We can’t wait to blast off into session 2 next week!

“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” – Hebrews 12:1