Creative Moments With Tiny Hands

Dear Parents,

Last week, our school was closed on Thursday and Friday for teacher training, professional development, and first aid training. We had an amazing time and spent a great few days learning and growing together. The children also enjoyed a nice long four-day break, including the weekend, and came back happy and refreshed. We are all very happy to be back and excited for the coming weeks! Read on to hear more about what the class has been doing lately…

Happy Birthday Nouwar and Charlie

Large Group

During our large group time, we started each day with our cheerful “Good Morning” song. The children waved their hands, greeted their friends, and said good morning to their teachers with big smiles. It was a lovely way to begin our day together. After that, the children had a chance to choose the songs they wanted to sing. They excitedly chose “One Little Finger” and “Baby Shark”. Everyone sang along happily, followed the actions, and listened to the music very well. The children showed great participation and enthusiasm during these moments.

Next, we continued with our attendance routine, where each child’s name was called, and they responded with excitement. This helped them recognize their names and feel included in the group. At the end of our large group, our teddy bear doll joined in to say goodbye. The teddy bear gave high fives and big hugs to all the children. This made everyone smile and feel loved and happy before moving on to the next activity.

Library Session

During our library session, we set up the activity outside in the grassy area, creating a calm and cozy reading space. We arranged soft pillows on the mat and placed a variety of books in the middle for the children to choose from. At the beginning, the children sat comfortably on the pillows, ready and excited for reading time. One by one, they went to the middle to choose a book they wanted to read. Then, they sat together in small groups and started to read and explore the pictures.

The children were very happy and engaged throughout the session. They also enjoyed sharing books with their friends, taking turns, and showing each other their favorite pages. It was lovely to see how they interacted, helped one another, and talked about what they saw in the stories.  At the end of the session, students had the opportunity to choose one book to take home and enjoy reading with their family. They were so excited and proud to take their books, showing a growing love for reading and storytelling.

Gymnastics Session

This week, our gymnastics activity an exciting obstacle activity for the class. We set up two chairs and tied a piece of yarn between them to create a fun challenge. The children took turns to go under the yarn, carefully crawling beneath it without touching it. They showed great balance, body control, and focus as they moved slowly and carefully. After crawling under the yarn, the children continued the activity by jumping into a hula-hoop placed on the floor. They practiced their jumping skills, using both feet together and landing safely inside the hoop. The children showed a deep enthusiasm throughout the activity. This gymnastics session helped them strengthen their gross motor skills, coordination, and spatial awareness, all while having lots of fun! The children enjoyed the challenge, encouraged one another, and celebrated each turn with smiles and laughter.

Science

During our science session, we made play-dough together! We prepared the activity outside, setting up tables, plates, flour, oil, and water. Before starting, we talked with the children about all the materials we were going to use and discussed what might happen when we mix them together. Each child received one plate. We first added flour to the plates and encouraged the children to explore its texture. Then we slowly added water and oil. The children began mixing the ingredients with their hands, observing how the texture started to change. They were very curious, excited, and fully engaged in the process. It was wonderful to see their enthusiasm and language development during the activity. The children were expressing their needs and making requests such as:

“Eonn, I want more water!”

“Millie, I want to add oil!”

“Abigail, I want more water and oil!”

They enjoyed exploring how the ingredients came together to form play-dough, and they were proud of their own creations. The activity encouraged sensory exploration, fine motor skills, and communication.

Art

During our first week of art, we made the sun-using macaroni! We began by talking about colors, especially yellow and orange. The children then stamped a circle on their white paper using a circular material to represent the sun. After that, they started to stick yellow and orange macaroni  pieces around the circle. Finally, they added their own picture to the paper. The children were very happy and proud of their beautiful suns!

In the second week, we created a thread collage. First, the children spread glue on their white paper, and then they started sticking colorful threads. As they worked, some children counted the threads while others talked about the different colors they used. They were very engaged and enjoyed exploring textures, colors, and patterns through this creative activity.

Literacy and Language

During our literacy session, the students participated in a threading activity designed to strengthen fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination. They were invited to choose from a variety of wooden threading boards featuring different animals. Offering choice encouraged independence, confidence, and a personal connection to their work.

After selecting the animal they preferred, the children began threading using colorful threads, guiding them through the holes along the wooden outline. As they worked, they practiced controlling small hand movements, refining their pincer grasp, and coordinating both hands to complete the task. This repetitive in-and-out threading motion helped develop finger strength, dexterity, and focus—important skills that support early writing, drawing, and other literacy tasks.

Math

During our most recent math session, we focused on color sorting. First, we collected different materials from our classroom, such as small toys, blocks, and other colorful items. Then we took everything outside and set it up on the table. We placed four different colored papers: green, yellow, red, and blue on the table to help the students sort the items by color. At the beginning, the children explored all the materials freely, touching, observing, and talking about the colors they saw. After exploring, they took turns doing the activity one at a time. Each child carefully sorted the materials onto the matching color paper. The children were very focused, happy, and excited during the activity. They also enjoyed naming the colors and proudly showing their sorted work to their friends and teachers!

Our schedule for next week:

Monday – Library

Tuesday – Gymnastics

Wednesday – Literacy

Thursday – Science

Friday – Math

Our specials:

Wednesday- Art

Tuesday- Music and movement

Friday- Ethiopian Center

Reminders:

Every Wednesday is art day, so please send your child with art appropriate clothing.

Every Monday is library day, so we will be sending a book that your child picked from our library, which will be returned after a week on library day.

Have a nice weekend!