This week is all about eyes and looking far away. Read on to find out why this is so important!
We are exploring exercise in the form of hiking (to get to places where we have the opportunity for wide open views), using hundreds of googly eyes in playdough, cloud dough and our journals! There are elephants and eggs at tables which get a lot of attention. We’re really getting into the October spirit with talk about costumes and painting more pumpkins while playing freely in the classroom. Next week is when children can join me in wearing or bringing their costumes! Enjoy pictures and videos of our day today:
We have several Story Time books this week all from our local library (I will return them after this week so you can check them out too!): Hiking Day (Rockwell), It’s Impossible! (Cordouroy), The Hike (Farrell), Hiking (Reagan) and Where Did Josie Go? (Buckley). The books all show the experiences of children and animals looking at things both close up and then taking in the wide open spaces. You can find out which your child likes the best!
Today we read Where Did Josie Go? and practiced looking at it close up and from far away.
E Week Activities
Here are some E things for the week you can look for in photos, conversations and backpacks!
Watercolor Eyes: children finished up their crayon resist experience with watercolors this week while looking in mirrors at their own eye colors. The crayon is drawn on first and then watercolor painted on top. The watercolor doesn’t stick as well to the waxy crayon which is the “resist” part.
Googly Eye sticker work: As a continuation of last week’s dot sticker work, children peeled more small stickers to place in their journal…these look like googly eyes. This requires a high degree of fine motor work…more than many of us realize!
Egg Carton painting: we started painting cardboard egg cartons orange in preparation for a pumpkin project next week! Given the 3D nature of egg cartons, more dexterity and problem solving is used to get in the nooks and crannies.
Eggy the Egg E: We’ve affectionally given a silly name to this week’s cardboard E. Covered in egg cartons and painted with watercolors, they will get their eyes on Thursday once the paint dries enough!
Here are 3 questions to learn more about our day:
What did you eat for snack today?
In the morning we had a birthday celebration snack for Daniel with Danimals (with teeny straws to practice our B Week Coping Skill of blowing bubbles!) and donuts! The next time we see Daniel he will be 4! Thank you, Daniel!
In the afternoon we ate goldfish, freeze dried strawberries and the earth from Owen. (This is a good time for you adults to say, wait…you ate the earth? We are on the earth!) Thank you, Owen! Here is a description of the earth snack:
Why was Ms Bindergarten home in bed?
Was it bedtime? No… Was it still nighttime? No… Was she home sick? YES!
Just like our dear Grandma Bonnie and Grandma Mona, we read about Ms Bindergarten staying home sick. In our book more kids got sick and stayed home. The surprise ending was that Ms Bindergarten came back to school but then Mr Tusky the substitute stayed home sick! So far we’ve not had any preschoolers home sick and we’re washing our hands a lot!
What did we hide outside?
Did we hide our backpacks? No… Did we hide our projects? No… Did we hide Easter Eggs? YES! Even though it is October, we played with Easter eggs and practiced our Coping Skill as we looked far away for eggs hiding in the grass.
I feel the tension of wanting to take photos of moments for you and wanting to be in the moment…this is one example of basically no photos or video of a very fun time!
Coping Skill of the Week: Far off gaze
This week we are exploring the “Far off gaze.” Using our eyes to look at things far away can have relaxing and calming effects.
By expanding our visual field the body is able to switch off the stress response. So, to take this one step further we can induce a state of calm and reduced stress by allowing our eyes to relax and take in a wider panorama or view, like the horizon. Looking at distant objects can also help relax eyes that are strained from close-up tasks like being on an electronic device. There is a lot of research being done on eyesight and the effects of screen time. Looking far away with a relaxed gaze is important!
This Coping Skill builds well on the last weeks where we looked at things around us by Orienting and the close hiding and burrowing by exploring Containment.
This week’s Coping Skill questions you can ask your child (and yourself!):
What is the farthest thing we can see from here? Actually naming the objects allows us to be even more in the present moment.
Can you see the tops of the trees? Name the colors or if there is any movement of the leaves.
Can you find the sunrise/sunset/moon/clouds?
BONUS: notice your breath while you’re doing this or take a deep bubble breath (deep inhale and long, slow exhale)
newcreationpreschool.com 
I just took a slow saunter through this post. So beautiful. I feel like I was there! Thank you! ❤️