Shake Your Shaker

I have one of these for each child at my circle . . .

They are also in the music box in the room but these ones are just for circle. I got them for the dollar store.
Music is a great addition to circle time. It helps children who have a hard time verbally expressing themselves be loud with the other children and join in with the fun. Something, they may be be able or willing to do when we are singing. It is also a great way to get rid of energy since it takes a lot to shake those shakers hard and fast.

We also use them to practice following instructions. The kids love to shake them so they think it is just a game. Really I am working on them going fast and slow and loud and quiet. I will say an speed or noise level and everyone moves their shaker that way. This helps the kids learn to distinguish between these four extremes.When we are inside we often ask the kids to slow down or quiet down. There are also times when being fast and loud is okay. This game helps the kids recognize these instructions, recognize that sometimes it is time for one and not the others, and learn to follow these instructions when gives.    

Monsters at Circle

The kids went crazy for monsters! They wanted monster everything! It all started with this book;

Go away and don't come back till I say so!

                                           

The kids were allover this book. I have read it hundreds of times! So I went searching for more monster things. I found this . . .

It is a Make Your Own Monster puppet from Melissa and Doug. It has a bunch of different pieces that you Velcro on to make a different monster every time.

 

I use this at circle and have the kids take turns coming up and adding the pieces to the monster. I follow the same layout as the book. As each kids adds a piece I say "has two green arms or two orange eyes" depending on what they add.It gets a little wacky but it is fun!

  Then I went on this site and got a whole package of monster stuff!  Here are a couple activities I got from there . . .

Monster Shape Lunch

Five little monsters and monsters in my bed

She has some great songs to go along with these as well.

 Next I made these . . .

I made these monster puppets out of stuff I found in the dollar store. They ended up being tickle monsters and the blue was was great for cleaning the chalkboard.
Then I found this at the Calender Club store. It was supposed to be for the bathtub but it worked just fine on the table.  

So that is all the monster stuff I have for right now. But, I am sure that they next time the kids get into the monsters I will need to come up with some new stuff!

Circle Time!

I will make no secret of the the fact that I love circle time! My center still does circle everyday. I know that a lot if ECEs hate circle time but I love it! The kids in my classes also love circle time. They beg for circle and if I sit down with my story box they will mostly drop what they are doing to come see what I am going to do.

I generally have a loose "theme" planned (by planned I mean I have stuffed that stuff in the circle box with the other stuff) for circle but really I do what they kids want. Most of the time I let the kids take turns picking what to do next. I always have lots to choose from at each circle. Some stuff is old favorite that never go away and some of it is new stuff that I rotate in and out. Since the kids in my group are of varying ages and developmental levels and I sometimes limit the number of choices and sometimes I let them dig through the circle box.

Some people are a fan of choice boards for circles. They are a good tool but I just don't like them. It all goes back to the days of digging through the treasure chest at the restaurant. It may take a long time to make a choice but I always loved looking over all the choices and digging to the bottom to see what else was in there. So I let the kids dig through the story box. Sometimes it doesn't work for certain children and then I work it out with them individually.

I like to tailor my circles to what the children are interested in. If they pick Old McDonald puppets everyday I will put some more farm animal things in there. If they don't pick the frogs for a couple weeks I will take them out until later. I think this way the circles become more emergent. I never go into the circle with a plan of what we are going to do. I remember when I first started doing circle I used to plan them out to the minute. I knew what songs I would sing, what activities, and in what order. It was a disaster! I always planned too many things. I got stressed when the kids either hates something or want to see it over and over again (cause, duh, the timeline!) but then I stopped. I stopped planning and started following the kids and it was magic. All of a sudden this circle time that I hated was one of my favorite times of the day!

I do follow a sort of outline . . .
1) good morning song with actions
2)kids pick an activity
3)kids pick an activity
4)kids pick an activity
5) circle time is over song

My circles last anywhere from 10 -20 minutes. Someday they kids are not feeling it so we end early and go outside. Someday they are begging me to keep going when I say it is time to stop. I like to go with their mood on this. So, that means that the number of kid selected activities changes. Some activities take longer and some take less time so it changes how many we can do. I try not to get hung up on the numbers.

I also think that it is important to take one or two turns for myself to introduce new things sometimes. I usually take a turn to introduce each book or activities for one or two circles. If, after that, the kids don't start picking it on their own I usually put it away until later.

I always start and end my circles they same way. That way the kids all know when circle is starting. They know what the expectations are and they know what is about to happen. I find that the routine makes for easier circles and everyone quiets down and listens quicker. I end it for the same way too. Depending on the day they either want to move on or keep going but the end of circle song tells them it is over. The song I sing tells them what we are going to do next. The songs as warning at the beginning and end seems to make for easier transitions in and out of circle. 

I am very enthusiastic about my circle. They are full of loud noises and actions. I also try to use visual for almost everything. The felt board and finger puppets are my favorites to make and use. The more excited you are about what you are presenting the more excited the kids will be. For that reason, I only offer materials to the kids that I like and can stand to read or preform a hundred times! I read every book back to front before I show it to the kids. I preform every song to my dogs before I share it with my class. If I hate it then I simply don't do it. Yes, circle is for the kids but I have to be there too! I figure that if I hate it then it will show with the kids and they will end up not liking it either. Or, they will love it and I will be miserable. I believe that everyone needs to like circle not just the teacher or the kids!

So to sum up . . .
MY TOP FIVE TIPS FOR CIRCLE
1) follow the kids lead, do what they like
2) don't get hung up on time or numbers just let it all go
3) adjust for individual needs instead of running your circle for the majority whenever possible
4)don't be insulted if they kids are not into something you brought or made. The next group of kids will probably love it
5) Keep the beginning and end the same each time
Bonus: if you enjoy it, so will the kids!   

A lot of the stuff I post on here is going to be about circle time and the materials I make for it. Since I love circle time I end up making lots of different things for it!  

   

Going on an adventure?

So today was the graduation for about half the kids in my center. It is very exciting to see them grow bigger and head off to kindergarten. It is also very sad for me since I will miss them. Some of these kids have been with me for years. Some of them we will see again. They will come visit us or we will get some of their siblings or relatives. Either way it means big changes for them and for us!

To celebrate we hold a potluck for all the families in the center. We hold it after hours on our playground. We did a little concert for the parents. The kids sang some songs, showed them one of their favorite dances, and got a diploma for graduating. It is very hectic and crazy. however, it is also a lot of fun! We get to stand around and talk to parents (something that is very had to do when we are in the classroom), it is casual, the parents get to meet each other and the other children, and . . . THE FOOD!!! Everyone brings a family favorite and it is fantastic!

In a weird twist of symbolism (that I think was a coincidence but who knows with kids some days) the kids got very excited about paper airplanes this morning. So I got out this book . . .

 

I would love to tell you where you can get it but I have no idea. It is one of those books that was kicking around my house when I was a child. It is great because there are some easy ones and some harder ones. It is not something the kids can make alone but with help some of the older ones give it a try. I let the younger pick which airplane they want me to make for them. It makes it interesting for them and cuts down on the fighting because the planes look different. It also make it interesting for me because I don't have to fold the same plane a million times in a row.   

This was one of the more interesting ones. I also put out extra paper, crayons, scissors, pencils so the kids can decorate and modify if they want to. Sometimes we put out glue too but I didn't this time because we didn't have time for it to dry and wet airplanes flying around are a huge mess.

So good luck to all the children starting kindergarten this year. I hope they all have wonderful adventures. 

Pirates and More Pirates

Pirates are a big deal in my program right now.

It all started because I found this pirate ship on kijiji. It was cheap and cool so I picked it up! 

I decided to put a pirate sensory bin in the room at the same time. So I put the ship in the block center and the sensory bin on the table. The pirate sensory bin included a whole bunch of stuff! 

 

It has . . .

-          Pirate hat and eye patch

-          Pirate flags

-          Treasure chest

-          Jewells

-          Coins

-          Party beads (I chopped these up into little pieces so it would just look like a bunch of shiny treasure pieces)

-          I cut up a bunch of different pirate type bandanas into different sized pieces

-          Large craft sticks (they reminded me of ship planks, swords, and walking the plank so I threw them in)  

So most of that stuff needs to stay in the bin but the costume pieces are worn around the room and the ship often makes it into the sensory bin. The children also like to bring the people and animals from around the room into the sensory bin to act as pirates.

Circle time:

I expanded my Pete the Cat felt board story for a Pete the cat is a Pirate story.

 

I have the books Grandma and the Pirates by Phoebe Gilman and Pirates go to School by Corrine Demas