This is the start of something big!

So we started and have been at it for a week and a half. K is loving is, O likes it but I think he wants to find ways to pull everything out then decide what he wants to do. They both want to be in there all the time, and when I tell them it is time to finish and we need to head down for snack and nap time for O it is a fight. (It is a fight that I do not mind losing, if they want to be in there that is great). Sensory boxes has been a hit, K would play with them the entire time (which I let her, with a break doing other activities in the classroom) O likes to play with the playdoh and mimic what I do (pat, roll, pinch).

Here are the other activities we have in the classroom for my little chickies this month. (Mid August to Mid September; the reasoning for this is a beach vacation we are taking in mid September so I had a theme that leads right up to the trip "Fun in the Sun"

Here is our playdoh, I made it and added sandbox

sand in it to give the texture of the beach.

Each child has there own box of playdoh.

Here is our sorting activity, O likes to dump them then drop one by one back into the star or shell and hear the "ping" noise they make when the shells hit. K takes the spoon and scoops one at a time into the other dish. I will ask her to move all the white (clear) ones over, to give her an extra goal.

Counting fish, this month we are working on the number 1, so I have one fish of different colors (I never put this many fish on the board at once but maybe two or three, most of the time 1) K doesn't have much interest in this, but I am hoping once the sensory tub isn't her only activity she wants to do she will try to work with the fishies. O loves to take the fish and put on them on the board and slide them up and place more on them.

Here are our letters and number for the month, I picked S and B because their sounds are very different and they are good letters when talking about the ocean and beach. (i.e. Sand, Sun, swimming, swimsuit, sunscreen, slippery, beach, boat, beach ball, burned) and number 1. These are sandpaper letters and numbers.

These are my counting fish, (some are still being worked on) I got the idea from the Blog Counting Coconuts. This is a fishing rod with a magnet, we aren't using them for counting but more for coordination.

Here is the Land vs Water activity. We sit and try and decide where each activity or item belongs, whether it be in the water or on the sand. K also uses this for imaginative play, she will pretend the children are playing together or jumping in the water, or going into the house.

These are our shells, this is where we talk about and observe texture, size, color, shapes.

K really like this activity, she really enjoys pouring the beans. The first time we did this I have given her too many beans in the measuring cup and they ended up going everywhere. A positive note would be she was able to work with her fine motor skills and O was able to help under close supervision.

Here is our bead activity. K uses this activity to practice putting beads on the strings and pulling them off one by one. Eventually we will start doing patterns, but we are taking it one step at a time. O practices placing the beads in the purple sand castle bucket. Also I will string on a couple beads then have Owen pull them off.

Grow an octopus. This activity we haven't done yet, but plan to do it next week. We are going to watch this octopus grow in water.

So here it is, the month "Fun Under the Sun". We also have a calender up but haven't done anything with it, we are starting this school time slow but steady. They seem the like it and look forward to starting soon after breakfast.