Let's Go!: Prospect Park Zoo

Cows, turkeys, and geese, oh my! This past Thursday we climbed aboard our growing wagon train and adventured through Prospect Park, headed in the direction of the Zoo.  Along the way we sang winter songs, observed animal families, and even read a few books. One friend hoped he'd see baby animals at the zoo.

As soon as we arrived we made our way to the Prairie Dog exhibit, crawling through cave-like spaces and peeking our heads above ground. After a climb through shells of giant tortoises, we ran excitedly to greet the swimming, barking, California sea lions.  Our friends were mesmerized by these creatures and predicted where they would bob their heads above water next!

 

Onward to what became the highlight of our day, the Barn and Garden! We toddled up close to the barnyard animals noticing the beautiful long, white feathers of the geese and the fluffy soft wool of the sheep.   

Soon enough our friends realized that the animals poking their noses through the fence were hungry! We rushed over to get some grain pellets, and held out our hands and the animals hungrily gobbled the goodies.

Back in the classroom we enjoyed our second art class with Lisa! We added a layer of oil pastels to our black paper glue creations. Lisa explained to us that colors can be as warm as the sun and we used our pointer fingers to blend the warm colors together.

What a wonderful winter day spent with old friends many new animal friends! We look forward to what we'll see on our next trip to the zoo.

This week: Pumpkins!

Autumn offers much opportunity for exciting color and texture exploration at Play by the Park. This week we   got elbow deep in pumpkins and used our hands to explore its smooth surface and seed filled, gooey innards.

Our study extended to the color of pumpkins ("ORANGE!" offered enthusiastically by the class) and inspired an Orange Scavenger walk through the neighborhood. Afterward we brought back photos of our orange neighborhood finds and created our own masterpieces with bright orange paint!

Practicing our cutting with orange paper strips illuminated by our classroom light table, we observe the many shapes and sizes we can create with our scissors.

Finally, we celebrated our fun pumpkin study with a hands-on session of Cooking with Ms. Gilly, creating amazing pumpkin bread that proved a delectable autumn treat!

Yum Yum! Autumn continues with wonders for all of our senses!

Work and Play: An innovative fusion!

 

This morning, we began our school day in our interactive science center. With our magnifying glasses as tools, we dug through moist brown soil, finding small leaves, rocks and buried acorns. After sorting our treasures one student declared "We need more acorns!"

Basket in tow, we headed to our favorite spot in Prospect Park to find acorns and other fall treasures!

 

A long stick provided the perfect opportunity for problem solving as we diffused a potential tug-o-war and worked together to break it into three pieces--a simple lever motion did the trick! We ran through the rain soaked field in our bare feet describing the texture of the grass beneath our toes. We worked up quite an appetite and enjoyed an impromptu math-infused snack session using our whole wheat crackers as a delicious counting tool .  

1, 2, 3, 4 crackers to share!

       

Back in the classroom we expanded our learning, delving into watercolor paintings using the vivid browns and greens we experienced in the park.

Snack time! Family-style dining offers a great chance to learn valuable self-help skills and delicious opportunity for fine-motor development!

"The Year at Maple Hill Farm" by Alice and Martin Provensen reinforces the sights we've seen outdoors,  building our vocabulary in an exciting and engaging way! The farm horses inspire a fun, lively gallop around the classroom. We donned our cowboy hats and took a ride into the sunset!

Time for Music! Our Djembe community drum is a class favorite. Listening to the sounds in jazz, and latin beats we used our hands to imitate the LOUD, soft, fast, and s l o w drum beats we heard in the music. We look forward to the fun tomorrow will bring!

Let's go!: Farmer's Market

Today we enjoyed our first walking field trip to the Prospect Park Farmer's Market.  After enjoying the vibrant illustrations in Lois Ehlert's book, "Eating the Alphabet" we were ready to explore hands on!

 

Potatoes, pumpkins, beets, leeks! The market was a delight to our senses. We enjoyed a tasting of local, fresh, ripe apples and juicy peaches. 

 

Led by adventure we found the one tree in the park that had sprouted the most vivid fall colors! Sitting underneath the canopy of leaves we sang, "The leaves are falling down!" 






All around us were pine cones that had rolled downhill from a nearby pine tree. Our wagon is chock full of pine cone booty!

On our hike back up the hill toward school we spotted a tree with a wide gaping hole filled with pine cones, acorns and leaves.  We wondered if it was a squirrels secret hiding spot.








Over the market and through the woods, we spoke of all the many sights we'd seen and tastes we enjoyed. I wonder what adventure tomorrow will bring!

Fall Discoveries

We loaded our wagon and began our journey on this week’s Discovery Hike. Looking high and low in search of wildlife, plants and the seasons first fallen leaves and fruit: acorns, ginkgo fruit, and sweet gum fruit became the focus of the day. We observed the strong, pungent smell of the ginkgo fruit and the prickly texture of the sweet gum tree’s harvest.

Floating on the surface of the lake was the day's most intriguing discovery--Duckweed! Throwing rocks on the surface of the water disturbed the algae and opened the concepts of float and sink for exploration

Back in the classroom we dug through rich soil feeling its cool, gritty texture and found a white worm burrowing through! “It’s very tiny!” one student observed. With our magnifying glasses we took a closer look at our forest finds, using rocks and our fingers to “open” acorns and study their many layers. Our fall study has inspired many avenues and is introducing exciting new concepts!

PBTP is in session: First Day

Transitions, Textures and Family!

 

We begin Fall ready for adventure as we guide our students through their first classroom experience. Our little ones dived into the day. In our classroom they discovered the dress up box, built train tracks, and read stories together at assembly.
 

After assembly and snack we set off on a nature exploration in Prospect Park. We also began our exploration of the textures of Fall in Prospect Park. The children quickly found acorns (they watched them fall from trees above), hopped in tree stumps that became boats, and dug through mud to find river rocks, feeling their smooth, cold surface. Already we can observe imaginative play as they used objects found in the park to build play scenarios.

"you can't see us!"

smooth rocks covered in squishy mud

Up next week:

Yoga in the Park,

Prospect Farmer's Market

        Windsor Terrace Library

Brooklyn Botanical Gardens

Ciao from Reggio Emilia!!

I just returned from a three-week adventure through Italy, during which, I set out for a mission to Reggio Emilia, the birthplace of our inspired teaching philosophy.  I enjoyed a full day at the Loris Malaguzzi International Center in Reggio Emilia.  I toured the eye-opening facility and wandered through their most recent interactive art installation, "Ray of Light" -- a creative feat of light, shadow, color, and movement designed to animate and delight children ages one through 99. I also peeked in on the Infant-Toddler Center and preschool classrooms that have inspired a teaching movement that spans countries all over the world. I was moved by the simplicity, attention to detail, and essential immersion of nature and its materials into the classroom environment. These were rooms inspired by the curiosity of children and created especially to guide them in formulating ideas about the world around them.  

This was an essential venture for Play by the Park. We are striving to create an authentic experience for our young ones; an experience influenced by research, inspired by Reggio first-hand, and translated to our own Brooklyn culture.  One of the amazing teachers I met at the Loris Malaguzzi International Center explained to me, "You are very smart to have come here.  You cannot really teach Reggio until you have SEEN Reggio." Hearing this sentiment first hand confirmed to me the magnitude and value of my excursion to the small town of Reggio Emilia.  The city of Reggio is rich in history and a lasting, undying commitment to their children. I was so impressed by the fun, wonder, and respect present in every project, teacher, and art display. I am thrilled to bring that same enthusiasm and commitment home and create an exciting experience for our children here.  Join us for exploration, wonder and adventure for the young inquisitive mind! 

Check out the amazing International Center here >>

-LaVoya Woods-Dionne, co-director and teacher, Play by the Park