Smiles for Yearbook Photo Day

“Smile!”, “Show your teeth!”, “Show a happy face!” … these were the terms and phrases we repeatedly heard today as we took our individual yearbook photos with the photographer this morning. We were brought up in batches and while waiting for our turn, several adorable moments took place that helped us warm up to face the big equipment that captured our adorable smiles.

J, N, and K went up together and while waiting for their turn, they brushed each other's hair to make sure that they looked good.

E, W, and Y practiced smiling together with Erika before it was their turn to have their photos taken. It was helpful that E brought along her small pink camera toy which made a sound to give them a preview of what was going to happen next.

While several of us were up in the office taking our Yearbook photos, our classroom has been filled with coziness and warmth with the autumn themed activities that were prepared.

Autumn Themed Playdough Free Play

It is always a treat to have a fresh batch of playdough to play with! In line with the colors of autumn, we had orange colored playdough to work with together with buttons, popsicle sticks, plastic mosaic, and wooden chips.

Together with Goh San, A and K seemed to make pizza dough and topped it with various buttons. Both of them seemed to be curious as to how many buttons they could top it with by looking at the playdough’s size.

K made ice cream by pushing a popsicle stick through a ball of playdough which he lovingly shared with everyone.

S made patterns and formed figures out of the popsicle sticks she had. Any guesses to what she might have made?

Kitchen Pretend Free Play

What usually comes into mind when we hear the word “Thanksgiving”? For some, “thanksgiving” is usually associated with the delicious feast prepared and shared with family and friends. In the spirit of “Thanksgiving”, the kitchen play area was centered in the room for us to keep our minds and hands busy in cooking dishes and handing it to each other.

Together with Nanako, L and N went around the room offering vegetable dishes to everyone. K even thought of sharing her dish to a toy dinosaur as it seemed to like it was hungry with its mouth wide open.

Musical Playdough Session

Today’s Circle Time felt like we took part in a musical play with various catchy tunes being played back to back to keep us engaged. We started off by shaking to The Kiboomer’s “Conga Line Dance Song” and Patti Shukla’s “Shake and Move”.

To guide is settling down, a lullaby version of “Skidimarink” and “ Baby Shark” was played to encourage us to start using gentle movements in preparation for our sit-down group activity. Once everyone was well settled, we were each given a ball of playdough which we used for our musical playdough session.

To the catchy tunes of Chancla’s “Pode Ser” and Cienfue’s “Life in the Tropics”, all together we “pinched”, “poked”, “roll”, and “flatten” the playdough while taking note of the change in rhythm and beat of the song. A couple of us even volunteered to take lead in leading the musical playdough session by sharing ideas on what we could do with the playdough. Ideas shared were “tossing & catching”, “balancing on our foot”, and “rolling it into a ball”.

To include our ongoing theme about the senses we feel with our face, we made a long strip of playdough and pretend it was our lips to show how a “happy”, “sad”, and “angry” facial expression would look like. W, K and S did a great job in showing us these types of facial expressions.

We also read/sang the story “Leaves, Leaves!” by Salina Yoon which showed us what we can expect once we head outdoors… piles of red, yellow, gold, and brown colored leaves!

Outdoor Play with Balls

Yes, we indeed saw different colored leaves during our walk to the park. We specifically enjoy walking through the narrow pathway that is usually covered with dried leaves that we get to step on. While walking through it, our teachers would encourage us to be aware of the sound when we step on dried leaves and the scent it has.

Once we reached Step Park, we played with the various types of balls. N showed us his fantastic catching and kicking skills. R and S showed fondness towards the spiky balls as they found its texture interesting to touch.

We hope everyone is having a lovely Wednesday so far!

Love,

Buds Class Children