New Year, New Room!

Happy New Year everybody! I hope it's great so far, I know it is here at pre-school!

So, alrighty, I never did that second post about the Christmas projects like I said I would. Everything got rather busy around Christmastime as you can imagine, and I never found the time. It feels silly to write it now so I'll give it a skip. Basically it was a little book we made about the story of the First Christmas. I drew 5 scenes from the tale, and if anybody would like the free printables please just leave a comment and I'll email them on to you :)

So, new beginnings! (Although I realise it is now February...) I was evaluating all I've done over the last term and decided there were a few areas I wanted to pay more attention to. I've been doing a lot of crafts and art and table work, and it had become a focus. I thought that maybe this wasn't fair. I do it because it's something I'm good at and something I love, but that's not the case with every child in the pre-school. So! Time to proivde lots more opportunities for different types of play and exploration.
I'm lucky enough to have my own room, and so this is what I did...


The Book Corner
I wanted to create a space where the kids could be cosy and comfortable; a space to chill out, get some head-space, read a book, share a story.
I loved the idea of a permanent blanket fort, and started practicing. This is how it turned out:

I like it, it's cosy and gives opportunities for quiet time, personal space and reflection. But it feels like it could be better! Suggestions are welcome!

The next area I wanted to tackle was pretend play. So I made a home corner! I was just working with what I have (which is quite a lot thanks to my generous boss!), but I really like how it came together:

 There's a little bench made up to look like a bed. (Since I took this photo I also have a little basket for a crib, with a cute doll inside), a kitchen table, and some storage for clothes.

One of the girls I work with offered me a loan of her gorgeous fabric food. They have proved a huge success! There's a basket of fruit, a basket of vegetables, a birthday cake, ice-creams, some knitted buns, and a bread board with sandwich making things! They're ridiculously cute, and are constantly in use. I also made little games with a felt board and some sticky-back velcro, in which we sort our fruit and veg!

 

I went to the local second-hand shop and bough some little plates, cups, a tea-pot and a pot. They're all 'real', i.e. ceramic, and this offers a really nice alternative to plastic. It's great to offer children miniatures or actual objects, rather than pretend things ALL the time. Kids love to imitate the adults in their lives, and so let's give them opportunities to make it more real.

 This is the dressing up corner. Since I took this picture it has quadroupled in size! I managed to find loads of really gorgeous things in the second-hand shop; fairy costumes, tiny tuxes, a dinosaur tail; straw hats; little graduation robes, and loads of little bits and pieces. A girl at work found a bunch of gorgeous hallowe'en costumes in a bargain bin, and bought them for us. So now there's lions, flowers, dinosaurs and dragons roaming about! Soon I hope to get a little rail to hang them on. Putting things back on their hangers will be learning a little life-skill in itself!

This is our little art table. It's always accesible to the kids, and readily stocked with pencils, crayons, chalk and different types of paper. I hang their art on the wall beside the table, for inspiration!

I lay out a soft mat on one part of the room, and keep different types of blocks and construction toys next to it. They also make floor jigsaws in this area. It's a designated space for this type of play, so that other children strolling around the room won't accidentally knock over a tower or step on a jigsaw.

Meanwhile, outside in the hall, I set up a Parent's Library! We all put out a couple of books we've picked up over the years. A check-out book sits on the far end of the shelf, and parents write in their name, the book they're borrowing, and the date.

All the books are related to children and childcare, and range from curricular guides, such as Aistear, and child development and pyschology books, to fun things to do with your kids and silly joke books about parenting.

So that's all for now!
My next post won't take two months, hopefully, and I'll update you on our Spring Things!