SMART START has fully embraced one of New England's finest seasons...WINTER! The children have enjoyed playing outdoors in the snow, as well as engaging in activities indoors. Here is a glimpse of all our exciting Winter happenings below!
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Our young learners became quite animated while listening to the classic, Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear by Eric Carle. Miss Francesca read aloud to the children as they gathered around the table and felt board. When she said the animal name, whoever was holding that animal placed it on the felt board. Pupils identified and acted out each animal and made corresponding sounds with ease....roaring, trumpeting, hissing, snarling! This book invites preschoolers to join in and chant the rhythmic words while igniting their imaginations for pretend play.
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Winter and its cold temperatures here in New England lend itself to fun-filled learning for preschoolers. SMART START sensory explorers were eager to dive into this frigid hands-on activity. They wore safety goggles and worked with small hand held tools to chip away at the ice. While engaging many senses, students thoroughly experienced this cold, slippery texture. This activity served as a great method of bringing the elements of Winter indoors, as well as put a different variation on ice exploration!
Friends took part in another timeless game, "Tic Tac Toe." SMART START's Winter version consisted of wooden bears and trees. The object is to get three of your pieces in a row, whether it be horizontally, vertically or diagonally! "Tic Tac Toe" reinforces strategizing, spatial awareness, fine motor skills and more. When the children play together they are also developing sportsmanship. We encourage supportive phrases such as, "good game" and "nice job". Although SMART START provides a strong academic foundation for your child, it is just as important that we instill in them our S.M.A.R.T character building blocks: Service, Mindfulness, Achievement, Respect and Trust.
Winter themed books have been read throughout the season. Whether they are listening to a story during circle time, reading independently or with a friend, reading is a favorite subject here at school. It is always a special treat when we can bring reading into our outdoor classroom-even all bundled up! Students are always captivated by the content, ask intelligent and age appropriate questions and use their imaginations.
SMART START meteorologists have been learning about and studying our chilly temperatures and weather patterns here in Massachusetts. We have a large thermometer here at school that the students can manually use to move the temperature up and down each day. Our pupils have acquired knowledge and skills during our weather unit and have used them accordingly.
Winter friends love to play in our outdoor classroom! Running free in our winter wonderland while exploring nature is exhilarating and so beneficial for their health and wellness. Children are always excited to make snow angels, snowmen, snowballs, go sledding and more. Charlotte and Caroline enjoyed much of the fun. We are thankful that we have willing helpers when it comes to shoveling the snow. It is important that our walkways and steps are cleared for everyone's safety! Thank you SMART START shovelers!
SMART START bakers took to the kitchen to make the most delicious treat. With their chef hats and aprons on and hands washed, they were ready to make sugar cookies! Once the cookies were baked and cooled, it was time for decorating. Each used their own tray filled with ingredients to create. Ingredients included: frosting, coconut, snowflake sprinkles and blue crystal sprinkles. The tasty cookies looked beautiful!
A snowman is a quintessential part of the Winter season. SMART START artists created their very own snowman using felt, stickers, bonkers, glitter, snowman eyes, mouth, nose and hat! They proudly held up their colorful and smiley snowmen for a quick snapshot to display their hard work. All enjoyed building a snowman tower out of wooden pieces, playing with snowman puppets and other related activities.
When the weather is too cold to go outside, we take our preschool energy and gross motor activities into our gym. We decided to have an indoor snowball toss as a special way to work on hand-eye coordination, gross motor, cooperative skills and more!
Another game we played in our gym was "Snowball Says.", a spin on the classic game, "Simon Says." The children had a blast and did exceptionally well following directions. We also brought out a parachute and created our own winter storm: shaking for wind, tossing snowballs for snow. We love incorporating new activities to challenge our students as their listening skills and all areas of development are vastly improving.
Miss Francesca did an entertaining rendition of The Hat by Jan Brett. Our attentive audience was fascinated by the story and loved the interactive aspect! A hat was passed around during the story and students filled the hat with the animals along the way. Just like the book, our hat here at SMART START helped to keep the animals cozy and warm!
Artic animals was one of our larger learning units this Winter. We discussed where artic animals live in the world, their habitats, diet, characteristics and more. Each SMART START engineer designed and built a home for two artic animals that they chose from an assortment of figurines. Supplies used to construct the habitats included: blue paper plates to resemble water, white plates for snow, Styrofoam cups for igloos and added on foam snowflakes, doilies, molded clay, blue yarn, mini foam cubes for ice, glue and more. As educators, it was amazing that with little assistance, the children transformed every day products into their own unique artic habitat. Creative hands-on learning at its finest!
Click below to see more Winter fun at SMART START!
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