Camping
The green class went camping this week! We talked about the all things camping. We discussed the different ways to go camping, the supplies you need, how to stay safe when camping, and the didn’t activities you can do while camping. Oh and of course, what kind of food you eat when camping.
We read the book “Pete the Cat goes camping.” In the book, Pete goes camping with his family. He goes fishing, hiking, and collects wood for a campfire. His family made s’mores together at the campfire then slept in sleeping bags inside tents. The book even discussed the different sounds you can hear when sleeping in the woods, including different animals. We also had a discussion about the different animals you could see when camping in the forest.
For our camping “trip,” we had our tent on the rug with a toy grill next to it so the children could grill hotdogs and carrots. The children used a pair of tongs to take the toy food off the grill and serve it to their friends. The children took turns using the grill and going in the tent because there was a 3 children in the tent at a time rule.
The children also made pretend s’mores on the “trip.” In the sensory bin, the children made pretend s’mores! There were cardboard squares drawn on to look like graham crackers, small square brown felt pieces drawn on to look like chocolate, and cotton balls colored a little brown for toasted marshmallows. On one table, there was a camping themed memory match game. This was out during our free choice time, but we also played as a whole class during circle time.
For the projects, the children made a campfire picture using their handprints as the flames. They added paper logs and a popsicle with cotton balls glued on to be marshmallows on a stick. The children also made a camping scene picture. They made a tent by gluing popsicle sticks in a triangle with only 2 sides. The children go to choose a sticker to go “inside” the tent. Then, the children glued a triangle piece of fabric. There was a slit in the fabric in order to open the tent to see the sticker. The children added a couple campfires and some forest trees to the scene.
Then on our cooking day, the children had the opportunity to help assemble real, edible s’mores. We warmed the s’mores in the oven which also toasted the marshmallows. The children then got to eat the s’mores for snack! They all enjoyed them very much! It was a perfect end to our “camping trip.”
Other things out in the room this week:
Magnetic tiles with cars and people. The children built different structures with the tiles, but also had the idea to make a racetrack for the cars! They added hills and problem-solved to try and figure out how to make an oval to complete the track.
Kinetic sand with dinosaur bone molds. The children used kinetic sand to make dinosaur bones.
Taking care of baby dolls. Under the loft, engaged in more dramatic play with the baby dolls and accessories. The children took great care of the babies. There were baby beds, a baby carrier, a high chair with bottles and food.
Puzzles at the easel. The children worked on magnetic puzzles at the easel. They used problem solving and fine motor skills to manipulate the pieces.
The children also drew painted at the easel with green and purple paint.
