During March, the students at Harmony's House have been studying the rainforest and jungle habitats of the world. These are some of the ways we worked with the theme:
Kapok Tree connections: During Circle Time, we read this fascinating book about animals from the Amazon Rainforest. They in turn, speak to a man who has fallen asleep on the job, and beg him not to cut down their tree. They emphasize how they get their food, homes, and family from this tree. If he cuts the tree down, they will lose everything. Indeed, the tree is about connections. Each child then chose to be a certain animal from the story. We used string to connect them to Ms. Harmony who represented the tree. The man in the story did not cut down the tree, but we cut the strings in our activity to see the impact it had on the animals. The children were startled when the ties were cut and they were left standing all alone, not connected to the tree or any of their school friends. What a powerful experience!
Explore Table: The rainforest trees and plants grow in layers with different animals occupying each area. In the Explore Table, the children used tree blocks, foam platforms, and a variety of jungle animals to make tree houses, shelters, dens, etc. for the animals.
Small Group Taste Testing: We sampled different fruits from tropical regions and charted who liked which kinds of fruits. We tasted mangos, pineapples, avocado, and bananas. The children frequently said, "I didn't know this was from the jungle!" "Oh I love pineapple!"
Balloon Painting in the Art Area: This discovery happened quite by accident. On a "home day," (non-school day), Ms. Harmony and Kyra were working with paint when a balloon got tossed/rolled into some paint. We decided to go with the flow and see if balloons make good tools for painting. We discovered that the balloons made really interesting prints that mimicked leaf venation in large leaves! We decided to share this discovery with the school friends when they came the next day to school.
Greeting Time Summary: Ms. Harmony asked the the children what they knew about the equator. This drawing is made from the children's words:
Friend "Bread" said, "The equator is the line in the middle." We drew a globe and the imaginary line that divides the globe in half.
Friend "Kangaroo" said, "There are lots of trees and flowers there."
Each child named an animal that they could think of that lives in the jungle habitat: jaguars, snakes, parrots, sloths, and monkeys.
Friend "Sunflower" described the weather at the equator as "warm and sunny."
Friend "Kangaroo" added that jungles also had a lot of rain because plants need lots of water to grow.
And there you have it... just a few ways we learned about the rainforests and jungles of the world! <3
