This month an all-time favorite building material was added to the Toy and Puzzle Area: Magnetiles! These were combined with the loose parts from March (CareBears, rainbow cubes, fabric squares, and cotton balls) to create an elaborate plan with bears, beds, breakfasts, birthday parties, cookies, and more! The beauty of open-ended magnetiles is that they can be used to build anything, helping to develop creativity, fine motor skills, spatial awareness, story telling, and concentration.
Some of our bears woke up with colds, and they had to go back to bed to rest. Some of the bears gathered for magic cloud or rainbow food. Using magnetiles, a kitchen with a sink an oven was built to wash and bake cookies.
Friend "B" enjoyed painting. This is a regular plan for her. She enjoys seeing the colors mix on the paper, and observe the brush strokes of different sized brushes. She also worked to dress up TinkerBell at the updated Alone Table.
Finally, the girls moved to plans in the House Area. Specifically, they took turns being parents and doctors. Not only did they use medical tools to diagnose and treat the babies' illnesses, but they used a notepad and pencil to record notes and write prescriptions! Friend "Z" is interested in letters and reading, so she sounded out words like "Sally" and "Cold" and recorded those words.
Too soon, Work Time was done. Students and teacher were satisfied with the hard work that was done in cooperative play today, both in the Doctor's Office and in building the CareBears Bed 'n Breakfast. Can't wait for next week!
