Updates/Reminders
- Winter Lantern Walk: Thursday, 12/14 @ 5:30p; Please RSVP if you haven’t already
- Winter Break, 12/18-1/2- No School/No Childcare
- Please send your child with rain gear (rain boots/waterproof shoes, rain jacket, or rain suit) the day after a rainy day because there are often still lots of fun puddles to play in 🙂
- If you’d like to host Mau Mouse for Winter Break, let us know!
- If you have Caterpillar clothes to return, there is a white bin on the changing table you can put them in. Thanks for bringing them back 🙂
- Please sign-up for Caterpillar class volunteer opportunities here
- If you ever have something to tell us that you think will impact your child’s day at school i.e. didn’t sleep well, has a parenting adult out of town, friend/relative visiting, you can write it on the clipboard outside the door titled “We want teachers to know…” This helps so that all teachers can be in the know 🙂
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Light & Dark
With the days getting shorter and the Winter Lantern Walk coming up, we’ve been exploring light and dark. The pumpkin patch has been replaced with a wintery light and dark provocation: blue transparent and sand blocks, fairy light jars, big hallow blocks, and a fuzzy white rug. During circle and lunchtime we’ve been reading books about our inner light and light in the darkness. In The House in the Night, the illustrations are mostly in black and white with yellow drawing our attention to what is illuminated. We’ve been showing that we see what’s illuminated through silent gestures as we eat our lunches. In You Are Light, we talked about how we each have a light in our heart that makes us special and shared what color we think the light is. We’ve been practicing raising our hands to take turns in sharing our thoughts. Books featuring hannukiahs and kinaras for Hannukah and Kwanzaa are also on the shelves to highlight how candles bring light to many holiday rituals this time of year. Children are invited to place real candles in the hannukiah and fill the kinara felt board with candles as well. We’ve made candles appear with our magic watercolors to decorate our tree, inspired by old winter solstice traditions. The Polar Express has also arrived bringing with it light to guide it’s way. We’ve started practicing 2 of our Winter Lantern walk songs, using props as we sing “Fire’s Burning” and “This Little Light of Mine.”
Outside Fun
More Caterpillar Happenings
- knobbed cylinders
- making play dough
- play dough loose parts
- leaf stamping
- dramatic play
- sewing with Julianne
- shelf activities
- leaf confetti punching
