Centipedes Class Time

One of the Centipede's class time choices today was exploring with watercolor paints. Watercolors are a medium that allows them to grow in their understanding of the flow of water, the saturation level of pigments, and how colors blend together. We provide different sized brushes that are varied in thickness and width so they can experiment with the lines they can make on their papers.

Luka noticed today that she can change the color of her paint with more or less water and she can also change the color of her rinse water with the pigments too. She wanted her rinse water to be pink like Myla's so she added red paint to her water and stirred it around.

Ava and Myla discovered that if they do not dip their brush in water after they put the paint on their brushes, their colors are stronger on the paper. They are learning how they can control the shade of color by the amount of water they add.

Bodhi explored with several colors working with circular brush strokes and also with dabbing the brush on his paper and seeing how it looked. He explained as he worked how he was making lots of circles.

Layla choose to make a rainbow with her brush strokes and she shared with us how she was also painting a picture of herself when she was a baby next to her rainbow. She has mastered the use of this art medium and can now use it to express her creative dialogue and ideas.

The Centipedes also got creative working on making things three- dimensional too. Using the gears, Layla discovered that she could get them all to turn using the handles. John used them to make a long train that he could roll across the floor.

John and Finn also explored how the magnetic fields of the magnets affect the metal and plastic items, as they built structures with them and moved items around using force of the magnets.

Toddler Brush and Finger Painting

Lena dove right in and painted her whole paper with different colors. She designed her paper with circles and straight lines with her paint brush.

Kaya was hesitant at first but gradually got the hang of using her paint brush. She experienced painting with her fingers and feeling the sensation between her fingers.

Eva chose to use purple and red paint. While she was painting she said, "Purple, purple." She is choosing more often now to use her brush rather than her fingers. She appeared to enjoy seeing the designs she made because she exclaimed, "Look Carrie, Eva paint purple."

Different Smells

Smell is one of the ways we have knowing about our world. People have a very weak sense of smell. Humans didn't need to smell like animals did. They could use their eyes and brains in a different way. The olfactory nerves are located very high up in your nasal passage, that is why we don't always smell something right away. Some people develop their smell for a particular use. Such as a perfume maker, they can tell the different flowers from each other by their different smells.



Here is Lena smelling vanilla.

Eva also tried smelling vanilla. Vanilla has a sweet aroma to it that most people like.

Kaya is smelling cinnamon. We took out the cinnamon sticks for the Beetles to get a stronger smell. Kaya tried to eat it but quickly put it back in the container when she found out it didn't taste so good.

The Importance of Dramatic Play

Pretend play provides your child with a variety of problems to solve. Whether it's two children wanting to play the same role or searching for the just right material to make a roof for the playhouse, your child calls upon important cognitive thinking skills that he will use in every aspect of his life, now and forever.

Does your child enjoy a bit of roughhousing? Good, because he should. Researchers in early brain development believe that this sort of play helps develop the part of the brain (the frontal lobe) that regulates behavior. So instead of worrying that this type of activity will encourage your child to act out or become too aggressive, be assured that within a monitored situation, rough-house play can actually help your child learn the self-regulation skills needed to know how and when this type of play is appropriate.

Pretend play also promotes abstract thinking. The ability to use a prop (such as a block) as a symbol for something else (such as a phone) is a high-level thinking skill. Eventually it will enable your child to recognize that numbers represent quantities of things, and that combinations of letters represent the words she speaks, hears, and reads.

Luka- My baby has to sleep in the car with her dress on.
Myla- Is your baby sick?
Luka- This dress is actually too big for my baby. I need a smaller one cause it's cold outside.
Saige- I said its time to go to school guys, come on!
Myla- I'm sick. No can't go to school.
Layla- I'm sick too, Myla. see? Cough, cough. My throat hurts.
Ella- You all need a pillow, I'll get one for you. Now lean back girls, I will have a pillow for you.
Myla- I need a blankie.
Myla- I have cough.
Ella- Here's your medicine to make you feel better. You guys want blanket for keeping you warm? I'll get it for you.

Luka- I'm taking your picture, say cheese.
Ella- Sorry I can't take a picture today. I have some girls that are really sick.

Saige- I'm a bee costume.
Luka- I am done taking pictures because I am sleeping.
Saige- I am a sick bee and I need medicine too. Luka take my picture!
Luka- I will take your picture when I wake up. Okay. bee?

Nolan- We got a lot!
Finn- Grab your safety hat and let's build it again.
Nolan-You can use a fire helmet!
Finn-I need it!
John-We need that. To cover these blocks.
Nolan-I'm a fireman!
John-After that we need to save the people from the monster! Jenna, it was just Finny.


Nolan-I need to build a hose, Johnny. I'm building a hose! Finn look it, I'm building a hose.
Finn-Fire fire fire!
Nolan-I'm the driver!
John-Hop on Finny there's a fire!
Finn- I can't. I am a garbage collector.

Nolan-Uh oh a fire! Raise the ladder, higher, higher!
John-There's a fire? Let me see...there is a fire!
Nolan-Here I am, sliding down the pole! We're sliding down the pole!
John-Fireman save the school all day, fireman save the school all day! This way to the fire, Nolan get in the fire truck!
Nolan- We need scarves to hook onto the fire hydrant.
John-Here's the fire hydrant, tie it up to that!

Tasting Different Foods- Sour, Sweet, Salty, and Bitter

Popcorn is a salty treat. All of the Beetles wanted more even after the bag was empty!

During circle time we tried lemonade, persimmon, and pomegranate. Some of the Beetles thought the lemonade was sour and others thought it was sweet. Eva and Lena were the only toddlers willing to try the pomegranate and they seemed to enjoy it. Lena kept saying "Sweet, sweet." All of the Beetles tried the persimmon. The persimmon left a bitter aftertaste and wasn't a big hit with Anna Lee, Kaya, or Lena but Eva ate quite a few pieces.

Mailing our Letters

During Class Time today we continued to write letters and draw pictures to mail to our friends. We've been adding to the envelopes for the past couple weeks and they are all full and ready to mail. We took a morning walk to the post office and each preschooler handed their envelopes to the postal worker to get weighed and stamped. After our envelopes had postage, we each put our enveloped into the mail slot.

Luka added stickers to her drawing for her Mother.

Eli traced the letters of his name for his card.
I'm making a card for my Mom! I drawing on it.

Grace wrote a letter to Jena, and drew the letter "H" many times in a row. When she was finished she put it in Layla's envelope so Layla and Jena could read it together.

At the Post Office the kids lined up to mail their letters. Nolan and Eli stood on their tippy toes to reach the Mail Slot.

Eli took a running start jump, and made it!

Individual Reading Before Rest Time

Everyday after lunch, the toddlers and preschoolers at Tiny Tribe head to their nap mats for some quiet individual reading. They can choose to sit on their own mats looking at books or they can sit with one other friend and look at books together.
This time of day is an important time to calm down our bodies and our minds and get ready for nap time. Even though the toddlers and preschoolers can't read, yet, they can enjoy looking at the picture and talking about the illustrations with their friends. Often, with very familiar books, they can recite the words from memory.

Nolan- Saige, do you want to come on my mat?
Saige- Sure, I have this airplane book. See?

Nolan- I ride on airplanes with my dad. Not a red one like that.
Saige- I ride on airplanes with my mom and my dad, too.

Nolan- Look at that guy, he's falling out of the airplane. That's so funny. Right?
Saige- Yes, that is so funny!

Music & Movement with Bonnie

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Riding the City Bus to the Kenney Home

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Finger Painting with Pudding

We've been discussing "Senses" this week with the Beetles and the perfect way to explore our senses is with finger paint. Not just any finger paint, edible finger paint. We used our "touching" sense and our "tasting" sense.

We started off by putting globs of the "regular" finger paint in front of each Beetle. When told to paint, they were a bit hesitant. But when told that it was okay to paint with their hands, they dove right in!

Raya figured out this wasn't just any other finger paint....

...it was chocolate pudding!

After the "OK" to eat the pudding, Eva tried a big handful!

Lena discovered it was edible shortly after...

Kaya had more fun spreading the pudding all over the table than she did tasting the pudding :)

"It's cold....cold chocolate!"

Kaya and Lena began patting down their chocolate pudding paint and singing "chocolate, chocolate!"

Raya joined in on the taste test, and made sure she licked off all the chocolate from her fingers.

It got pretty crazy after all the tasting of the chocolate! :)

Beetle's 5 Senses- Tasting

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Tasting Different Foods- Sour and Sweet

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Centipede Class Time

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Shopping for New Foods for Our Senses- Taste

We all explore our world through our senses and the Beetles are getting to learn more about them this month. Carrie took the toddlers on a grocery shopping trip to QFC where they picked out new foods to explore with all of their senses. They will be taking a closer look at their purchases over the coming days and exploring how each tastes, as well as looks, smells, and feels.


Raya held the pomegranate. It was cold, smooth, red, and shiny.

Kaya held onto the big, poky pineapple. It smelled sweet and felt rough. We are looking forward to tasting it too.

Lena picked out the bright green papaya and said "Yummy!" We'll have to wait to find out if the Beetles will eat all of the yummy foods they picked out.

Eva held the small oval shaped persimmon. This will be one of the new foods that we will try. Most of the Tiny Tribe teachers have not tried this new fruit yet, either.