Beetles and the 5 senses: SMELL!

In line with our theme, the Beetles today took turns identifying smells.  Smell, a sense that contributes to our ability to distinguish different objects, and our sense of taste is a very important part of our bodies.  While all of the little ones have their sense of taste mastered (as they all wanted to taste the smells), they began to realize that a person can tell a lot about an object by only its smell.
Below are some pictures of the kids smelling things like peppermint, rosemary, pickle and lavender.

Above is Katy trying to figure out what the smell was and whether or not she should eat it! :) 

Zoe doesn't really like the smell of pickles! 

The Sound Matching Game

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Using Our Noses

Smells surround us and tell us so much about our world.  They give us bearings, wet our appetite, and remind us of people and events in our lives.   Today, the Centipedes turned on their noses and got busy explore smells in our Smell Lab and out on our walk... Check out some of the video of them exploring the smells and identify to how they know them in their life.  Is it a yummy or yucky... does the smell make you think of something?

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Circle Time Fun!

The toddlers are really starting to look forward to circle time each day. As soon as we clean up after free play, Chloe and Zoe head to the closet to bring out their pillows to sit on. Chloe usually brings one for each of the other Beetles too.

Zoe recognizes her letter, Z, now and gets excited when she sees it.

Katy finds herself and Kaya on the back of the "K" card.

Grant points to his picture on the back of the "G" and laughs.

Our name song:

Wiley's letter is W, W, W...

Wiley's letter is W...

W is in Wiley's name.

Planting Spring Bulbs

 It seems like every year I buy bags and bags of flower bulbs and for one reason or another we never actually get them into the ground. I am always regretful each Spring when I see the daffodils popping up and I think how easy it would have been to simply throw some bulbs in a hole. Well, that will not be the case this year because we have been planting bulbs everywhere!

 What an awesome real-life experience in life cycles it will be when the ground sprouts up with beautiful flowers all around our yard in the Spring time.

We planted tulips, daffodils, and hyacinths today. Each of them had different sized and shaped bulbs but they all had a pointy sprout on top and tiny dangling roots on the bottom. We showed the kids how to plant the bulbs with the roots down so they can drink the water up from the soil.

Toddlers Creating

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The Sense of Touch

Today we focused more on exploring our sense of touch.

We used simple props, a towel, basket, and some items from the class room.

The preschoolers used only the sense of touch to help explore.

They each took a turn.  

 They felt under the towel to try and make sense of what they felt.

 Sometimes they were surprised and a bit confused by what they felt.

 They used their hands to touch and explore all over the items.

They shared what they felt and came up with ideas of what it might be.

 Is it soft or hard? Is it smooth or rough? Do you recognize this object?  Is it a Bear? A Phone? A Shoe?

They tried to resist the temptation to use their sight.

Finally the reveal.... a Snake this time!

Exploring How We Use Our Senses

 The Centipedes are learning about and exploring their 5 Senses and how at times we use some of our senses more than others for specific things.  During class time they were told about a table activity that explored their sense of touch and their sense of sight and one that would have them use their sense of touch, smell, sight, and taste.

We talked about how they can only see the colors using their sight and with their eyes closed how they did not know which color was which.  On their finished watercolor paintings we wrote down what they said they saw on their painting - what they needed their sight for.

 At our second table we had a snack in which they were encourage to smell and taste the snack options.

 Outside they had the opportunity to explore with a partner what it would be like not to have their sight.

 Anna Lee volunteered and Saige helped slowly guide her around the yard.

 She became a little unsure about it but felt better when both Jennifer and Saige held her hand and guided her.

 We brought her to the climber and let her place her hand on it and asked her if she knew where/what she was holding.

 Myla and Lena both gave it a try but found it very weird not to be able to see and preferred to have their sight soon after they tried to explore without it.  They were able to use there sense of touch and hearing so they could be guided about.

Myla wanted to peak under her blind fold to get a better sense of where she was. Not have one of your senses can be a huge surprise that really highlights how much we use it.

 Saige let Jennifer guide her around a bit longer, but not too long, sight is something it is hard to imagine being without it is a huge source of information.  We talked about what it felt like as a group afterwards.

 After our experiment was done they had a great time using their senses to climb and navigate around the yard together, climbing and hanging upside down and calling out - hey look at me :)

October- Exploring the Five Senses

 This month, we will be exploring the topic of our five senses with both the toddler and the preschool classes. This is typically one of our favorite topics for curriculum because children already naturally experience the world using their five senses.

 The Beetles were eager to touch, smell, see, taste, and listen to all kinds of different things on our morning walk.

Our Beetle helper, John, was happy to show off some of the different Halloween hats that we came across when we stopped at our neighborhood garden store for some Spring bulbs for our garden. 

 Blythe could see her own image on my phone but didn't look to comfortable about this crow hat.

Chloe, on the other hand, was excited to see herself wearing this funny spider headband.

 We smelled and heard some popcorn popping at True Value and decided to get some so the Beetles could have a taste. Zoe sat down in a shady spot and enjoyed her morning snack.

 Yum!

 Wiley was also a big fan of the buttery, crunchy snack.

 As we headed back to school, we saw some bright yellow flowers and stopped to feel them.

We used all five of our senses this morning to explore our neighborhood and we'll continue using them all month to learn about ourselves, our friends and teachers, and our environment.