This is our final week of Dinosaur Dig. The children had lots of fun exploring and learning with Mother Goose Time. From making their volcanoes, making their post card page, working on our journals, using collaboration work while making our maps. With Mother Goose Time we have every day layed out in amazing teacher guides. Since using Mother Goose Time my daycare parents have said how well and organized the day is for their children.Having the day better prepared makes for a better learning experience for the children.
Volcano making was great. First, we talked about the volcano at circle time. Then, we read several books throughout the day about volcanoes. We lucked out and found two that talked about volcanoes and dinosaurs. At the end of the day, we sat out all the supplies: red tissue paper, small bowls, glue and crayons. Before they started their art we talked about what the volcano looks like. The children were very into this activity. One child even drew rocks at the bottom of her volcano. One child let me know that volcanoes used to be around when his dinosaurs were around just like our book said.
Postcards were another amazing activities that the children were into doing. We recapped all the things we had talked about in the Dinosaur Dig theme so far. Each child chose what they wanted to create. We sat out trays with materials for them to freely use to create their own postcards. We had colored pencils, smelly markers, crayons and easy writer markers. I write down exactly what each child tells me that they are creating. These ones they didn't want to send out so they got to take them home to share with their family.
I love seeing how each age group goes about doing their journals. My 5 year old is all about doing exactly what ever page ask her to do. My four year old only wanted to do any that did not require him to get paint on his fingers. So we came up with ideas of things that he could use to do it instead. My two 2 years old were into making large circular shapes on each page. They would tell me what they drew. It was usually something we had talked about in our unit or what an older child had said. One of my 2 year olds tells me lines from our books we read as his art. So I write what they said and also wrote inspired by then the book name.
Once a week, for the military we are required to do a collaboration project. I like to use some of my mother goose time activities to do this. This week, we used our map to do just that. I taped the strips of paper in different directions to make a road map. We talked about things they may have seen back in the dinosaur day. I supplied them with a variety of crayons to use. They older child talked about what should be on it. My older children were all into creating details that were realistic. my younger ones were into making marks on the paper. My older ones wanted to make it more like a border and the younger ones drew in the middle of the older children boarder. They were very careful not to touch the others artwork. Love these types of activities. They teach the children have to share, communicate, think cognitive, work as a team, understand and overcome difference.
Thank you MGT for these memories.
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