Let's Play Ball!

It’s the fourth week of our Ohana Olympics and we are eager to know what’s more in store for us. The highlight of today was all about basketball. What did we learn about this famous sport… read ahead to find out!

Stamping on Basketball Court and Shooting & Spinning Disks

For our Free Play period, a large sheet of paper with a semicircle line on each side was laid out for us to stamp on using dot markers. We aren’t quite sure what this sheet is for but using dot markers always excites us. The simple step of choosing which color to use already keeps our mind working as we go through the process of decision making. After choosing, we go to the next step of figuring out how to take the cap off… do we use our fine motor skill by twisting the cap or use our social/ verbal skill to ask for help? So much learning processing takes place in just these two steps Some of us even thought of driving a Lego car along the semicircle line.

On another table, there were wooden toys of various shapes that we had to shoot or slot in in its proper place. Using the logic of how to play basketball, we were tasked to “shoot” in toys and was encouraged to cheer on each other when it was a success. As per the connecting disks, we tried our hand at spinning these objects by using our pointing finger and thumb. While working on this complex skill, it was delight to watch the disks spin and try catching it.

Ring the Bells

To start our Circle Time, seven bells were brought out to represent everyone who was present in class. We listened to the sound of each bell as it represented the notes do-re-mi-fa-so-la-it-do. Depending on which bell was asked to be rung, that’s how high or low we sang our “Good Morning” song. Everyone had a good laugh on the different tones we used to sing.

Tanabata Decor Making

Tanabata is coming up real soon and it’s time to start making decors for our bamboo leaves. Using the Olympic Rings inspired Free Art that we made during the first week of summer school, these were cut into strips and we made chain like decor. We all had to wait for our respective turn to use the tape dispenser.

What’s the Right Ball to Use for Basketball?

To officially start our journey in exploring the sport of basketball, Erika showed us three different balls. The two smaller ones look familiars as these were the balls that we often use when we are out in the park but the other one… not so much. It was big and heavier than the usual types of ball that we play with. We differentiated each ball based on its size, texture, and weight. M even came up with the idea of naming the balls “Papa,” “Mama,” and “Baby”! What a great idea to use to help us better understand the concept of sizes.

To help us get in the mood to play basketball, the song “Space Jam” by Quad City DJ’s was played in the background. Together, we tried our hand in dribbling and passing the ball to each other. Some of us even tried to do a slam dunk and “steal” the ball from each other. We even did some free throws were we all had to fall in line and took a turn to shoot the ball to the net from a distance. After that energetic basketball warm up, we were asked to all sit on a straight line, facing one direction. We tried passing the basketball ball over our heads. It’s a new way for us little Buds to pass a ball and it requires cooperation from everyone.

Apart from our bodies learning new skills through this sport, we also aim to learn more about camaraderie and team work.

Stay safe and dry!

Love,
Buds Class Children