Play Buddies

Group Meeting:  The children were assigned a Play Buddy at the beginning of play time.  A Play Buddy is someone that you play with for the first 10 minutes of play time.  After 10 minutes, the children can decide if they want to keep playing with each other or if they want to do something else.  This is a great way for the children to get to know other children in the class.  Sometimes children get into the habit of playing with the same children in the same areas.  I usually try to put two children together that have never played together or put children together who tend to play in the same center every day.   They are more likely to try something new with a new friend.  Everyone seemed to enjoy this new way today!

Story:  The story for today was Glad Monster, Sad Monster by Ed Emberly and Anne Miranda.  This is a book of feelings.  The monsters describe things that make them feel happy, said, angry, loving, sad, and silly.

Small Groups:  Following the story, we discussed the ways that the monsters felt in the book.  We talked about ways to express these feelings and how to help someone who might be feeling sad or angry.  The children went to the tables to draw a face with an expression that matches one of the feelings that we discussed.  The children described times when they felt that way.

Large Group:  The children used the wooden big lines to move to the song "Tap, Tap".  This is part of the Handwriting Without Tears curriculum.

Snacks:  The snack for the morning class was strawberries, Belvita bars and juice brought by Cora.  The afternoon snack was cheese sticks and grapes brought by Henry.  Thank you, Cora and Henry!