Block Play








Block play is so important to early development. 
Blocks enhance learning in all areas of development including:

Problem solving
Imagination
Math
Spatial Sense
Creativity
Social Emotional








"Look! When you put these together it makes a circle!"










"This is the University of Maine. This is where Bananas comes out and this is where the players come out. It has a big M"




Working on a trap to catch Goldilocks

Sensory Play



Young children learn with all of their senses by touching, tasting, smelling, seeing and hearing. Sensory play contributes to brain development increasing all areas of learning. Children increase fine motor development as they manipulate the tools. When children engage in sensory experiences they are using scientific processes to explore and learn about the world around them. They are making predictions, testing and re-testing. They count, sort, and group objects and use rich language as they join in conversations and describe what they are doing.





"This smells like pumpkin pancakes. I get them at Dysarts and my mom makes them at home"


"If we scoop all the goop up I bet it will fill this cup"


"I am like mud-man!"

"I am going to sort all my favorite colors"

"This is a cake I am baking for my mom. I add the water, then I add just one scoop of the sugar"





"The candies are getting smaller and smaller!"

"When I mix these all together they got holes in them"




Lines and Kandinsky





Pre-k Circles



Kandinsky's Circles


Learning about artists opens children up to thinking about how others live. They learned about Kandinsky's life as a young boy while reading the story "The Noisy Paintbox".  We talked about how much he had to practice in order to become so good at his work.
While painting their own versions of Kandinky's circles the preschoolers gained fine motor practice. They used the small muscles in their hands while experiencing a full turn of the wrist to get those circles just right! 
This is a very tricky skill needed for writing!


While looking at Kandinsky's work the preschoolers engaged in many conversations about lines. They noticed straight, bumpy, zig-zag, and spiral lines within his work. Using their own knowledge of lines they used black markers and water colors to create their own version of Composition 6.

Kandinsky's Composition 6


Pre-k Composition 6


Lines extended throughout our classroom as we used many more activities to create familiar lines. Recognizing, naming, and creating lines is a great way to become familiar with the lines and shapes of letters. 




Creating a straight line with bodies