Ice Block Toy Excavating

The Toddlers loved finding a way to break open these ice blocks!  Next time, however, I will make the ice blocks in the summer so that we can find more ways to get the toys out.  The kids tried rubbing, pulling, and kicking the ice, but they grew impatient very quickly!  Since it was cold outside, the ice was not going to melt, so one of the kids picked up a block and threw it on the cement!  It shattered like glass, and we are still finding tiny toys around the playground!  If we were inside and put the ice blocks in the sensory table, the kids could try melting the ice with water, tiny hammers or shovels, and many other ways that they can think of
!

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Tree

I really enjoyed making this tree in my classroom, and I know the parents enjoy it as well!!!  I took an old umbrella and cut the fabric off the top and put a green plastic table cloth over it in the shapes of leaves.  Then each child has a picture on a coconut wearing a pair of sunglasses!!!  They love to find their picture and show their parents where they are, oh and my "book nook" is under the coconut tree and they love to sit under it and read!  I took this idea from Pinterest and changed the saying to "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, Look who's in the Toddler Room!"

Color Mixing Bags - Great Discovery Activity!

My Toddler Room has just undergone some changes, and we now follow Creative Curriculum Gold for Everything!  In this lesson plan, we must create some discovery activities, and this is by far one of the children's favorites!!!  we change the colors every other week, and they enjoy "drawing" pictures with their fingers and "erasing" the pictures!  We also practice making shapes and letters!

I contact papered them to the top of one of the toy shelves in our room for easy access for the kids!

Toddler Classroom Arrangement

No one puts much emphasis on the arrangement of a Toddler Classroom, but I see the importance!  Below are the pictures of my classroom as of today (the cubbies will change next week).  Below each picture, I will explain why I made the choices that I did about the arrangement.

What you see when you walk in the door. :)

Group Time Area.  The radio and "fishies" are above on a shelf.  I use the "fishies" bubbler when I want the kids to sit down or quiet down.  I just tell them that if they scream, they will scare the fish, and they will not come out!  Works every time!  The lesson plan is posted next to the light switch for parents and staff to see in the room.  The red and blue poster is "Who's Here Today?"  We sing our Who's Here Today song every day, and each child has their name and picture on a velcro square.  We also have the calendar, weather, and letter, shape, color, and animal of the week. :)  The vacuums are not usually at group time.  They were just put there for cleaning purposes.  I also have the Star of the Week poster, and I go in order from oldest child to youngest (giving each two weeks).  That way, each child gets a turn before having to move up to the preschool room!

This is the "kitchen side" of the room.  The cubbies are on the right, and the "carpet side" of the room is on the left.  The kids eat here and do their art on this side!  Each group has up to 7 kids in it - which are pre-arranged based on biting habits, energy levels, and Thursday music times. 

These are the cubbies as of now.  They are changing next week, and I will post more pictures then!  Each cubby has the name of the children, their picture, and the name of their parents.  Above each picture is a grasshopper since we are the "grasshopper room."

This is the climber in our room.  I love the climber for large motor activities, but I also hate that it takes up so much space in the classroom.  I also wish I had a slide attachment instead of two sets of stairs.  Below the climber are little "cubby holes" for the kids to crawl in to, and the glass is clear so I can keep my eye on the children while they are under there.  This is key when watching for biting.  I placed the climber where it is so that the children are able to look out the window and wave good-bye to their parents.  This helps with the separation anxiety, and the toddlers love to watch the lawn mower and trucks out the window!  I am able to change the shape of the climber, but I chose to make it an "L" to prevent running, and create a nice wall between the "kitchen side" of the room and the "carpet side."

You can see many things in this picture.  First, you can see the blue sensory table on the other side of the gate.  The table is used daily and the children love what I put in there!  I will try to create a blog later about all of the fun things I put in there!!!  Second, you can see the bulletin board that says "cubby notes."  Every child has a daily note that tells about their potty schedule, what they ate, and what they enjoyed playing with that day.  It is a great way to keep up parent communication - especially since I don't always see every parent!  Last, you can see the "Our Families" board below the cubby notes.  I have pictures of each child's family on the board to help with separation anxiety in the children.  When a child is sad, they are able to go look at their family at any time.  This helps a lot with children first starting in our room.

This is another picture of our group time area.  I tell the kids to sit on the school bus for group time, and they love sitting in the animal chairs I just bought.  You can also see two shelves of toys - the trucks and people shelf, and the puzzles and mind game shelf.  I try to switch these toys at least once a month to keep interest in the toys, but I want each child to have a chance to play with them.  Some toys are more popular than others.  Also, on the wall, there is a large observation window where parents and staff can look in from the hallway.  It's also nice when kids are waiting for their parents to arrive, and they watch the hallway for people they know!

This is the dramatic play area!  It's hard for me to switch the dramatic play as often as I would like.  I am required to change it every two weeks, but it sometimes becomes too full or too empty.  Right now I have the grocery store put in the dramatic play area where I added a shelf, a cash register, and some cell phones (definitely the favorite).  I also put some purses on the hooks, and the boys love these just as much as the girls!  The table and chairs tend to be troublesome when the children want to throw the chairs and flip the table.  I guess the table is more fun to sit in than to sit at.  For this reason, I started putting velcro on the bottom of the chairs and table, and this makes it harder for the kids to move them.

This is the kitchen part of the dramatic play area.  The shelf on the right faces the kitchen and has music items on them, such as guitars and pianos.  The kids love to slam the kitchen doors and take the sink out of the wood part, but other than that, the kids love the kitchen.  The only other issue is that I have to wash the play food every day because the kids love to put them in their mouths.  Yay teething!!!

This is the book library where the children can choose board books to read.  I have to rotate the books monthly to keep interest high and to decrease the wear and tear on the books all at once.  The animal chairs are also a nice touch that the kids love!!! However, they are somewhat troublesome when the children pick them up and move them, or fold them up.  I don't let this discourage me from trying new things and leaving them out.  I have also noticed more children sitting and reading "the right way" instead of throwing the books or trying to eat them!

Finally, this is the "staff kitchen" in my room.  The garbage has to have a working lid so the kids cannot touch the garbage inside.  I like to keep my counter clean - including the space on top of the cupboards.  The bucket on top on the right is for mouthed toys which we wash daily.  The room manual is on the left side of the counter, which has emergency contacts, child information, and lesson planning information.  Each cupboard is locked with a magnetic lock (essential for toddlers!!!) and houses our bibs, wash cloths, lesson planning books, purses, medications, snacks, and cleaning supplies!  I placed the sensory table right next to the sink for easy cleaning and hand-washing! :)

If you have any questions about how my room is arranged, or something that you see in my room that you are curious about, don't be afraid to ask or comment!!!! :)  Your thoughts and questions are appreciated!

Coloring Rice and Back to Work!

Britton Walter

I don't know if anyone is aware, but I had a baby boy on August 30th, and I will be returning to work on October 31st.  I'm excited and nervous and ten million other emotions!!!!!  I am the teacher of a toddler classroom with 28 kids enrolled and 21 kids coming every day.  They range in age from 16 months to 30 months.  It is the most challenging, but wonderful job I have ever had!  It is nerve-wrecking to be the lead teacher, but ten times more rewarding knowing that I am the main source of new ideas coming in to the room.  I have created this blog to share my ideas and to hopefully get suggestions and comments back for even more ideas!!!

   

My New Family :)

While on Maternity leave, I colored some rice for the classroom sensory table.  Science and sensory are some of the most challenging topics to cover for toddlers.  They tend to put things in their mouths and throw things all over the floor.  My center has a policy about bringing food into the Toddler Room that is not for eating.  They think it will confuse the children if they are not allowed to eat the food, and we do not encourage playing with our food.  However, I asked permission to color rice, and it was approved because it does not look like food once it is done.  It was so easy to do, and it will be so great to bring it into my classroom when I get back!  (So watch for the results!)

Colored Rice

How to Color Rice:

1 cup rice + 2 tsp rubbing alcohol + food coloring = Colored Rice!

Put rice in a bag. Add rubbing alcohol and food coloring.  Seal bag.  Shake rice (carefully!).  Put wet rice on a pan and put in the oven on "warm" heat for about 15 minutes.  Enjoy!

Under construction!

Please bear with me as I update my blog!  Sorry for any inconvenience!