Winter Happenings

We are exploring ice in many forms in the PreK 3 classroom. We put water filled containers outside overnight last week and there was ice! We froze water in the freezer and then explored painting on it with watercolors. It was slippery and cold! We heard words such as "slippery" and "freezing" and "cold" and "melted."

Watching the water as it gets placed on the picnic table......

We know first hand that ice melts into water, and that if you sprinkle ice with salt it melts faster! Throughout each step of our ice exploration we have been asking and answering many questions, such as "What do we need to make ice?"

We "painted" with the water from melting ice cubes as it made the powdered tempera into paint.

We have been interested in the animals that are outdoors and what they do in the winter. Each child chose an animal to create for the winter scene, and described what their animal did.  Our research included internet searches on the ipad and books that we have read.  

 The children looked at images of the animal of their choice and then drew the shapes that they needed.  The teacher outlined their drawings and cut them out, and then they were glued together. Each child was given  a choice of paint with (cakes of tempera and water) and their creatures became quite colorful. Each child dictated a sentence about their creature in winter. Together we created an informative winter scene!

There was a "bear den" filled with hibernating bears right in the classroom! 

Until Next Time,

Michele