Wee World...A new class, a new world!

One of the best parts of this online community is the sharing and building off others' ideas. My friend, Teacher Tom, started his Little World Experiment and the idea nagged at me until I finally had to implement a version myself. Wee World started as a St. Patrick's Day activity and eventually morphed into an outdoor center for imaginative play. At the end of our year last year, I packed everything away so the new class could start fresh and make a Wee World of their very own. Granted they are using some of the same materials, but it is interesting to watch this new group explore and develop what they want this area to be.  They have only played in Wee World a handful of times, but it is already a very imaginative, innovative place to be on the playground.I can't wait to see how this will grow as the children do. For now, I'll happily watch them explore and imagine!

Checking out some of the structures.

Setting things up.

It doesn't matter to them that the manipulatives, or "people" don't "match". They make families and friends with whatever they have!

I can't wait to see what happens next. I'm trying to think of some neat things to add to broaden the play, such as cars. Any suggestions? Please leave me a comment!

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1.03.01

Location, Location, Location..... a Wee World Update

When we started Wee World, I wasn't sure how it would be received. I originally placed it in a sunny location where it could easily be supervised. We used our empty flowerbed as the prime real estate for Wee World. I knew that if the kids were still interested in playing there by spring that I would have to move it. I thought that it might be a fleeting interest, so I really didn't worry, but the interest has continued and is frequented by at least a few players each day.

With the arrival of warmer weather recently and Earth Day this week, it was apparent that if we planned to start our garden, we would have to either move Wee World or pack it up. I gave the friends a choice and they voted to find a new location. First, we "scouted a location". We have a little shady area on a hill in the corner of the playground. It stays cool and grass doesn't really grow there. We picked a spot in between 3 little trees.

The friends had fun moving all the rock walls and houses, then getting everything all set up.

I am really enjoying this new element of imaginative play. Often when the friends are playing indoors, with Legos for instance, they are limited on their movement and noise level. An airplane can only zoom so far and with limited noise. In Wee World, the kids are free to have the airplane zoom as loud and far as they wish. It's kind of ironic that while for some, it has provided an outlet for some more boisterous play than our indoor classroom environment allows, but for others, it is a quieter spot to play.

 

 Another advantage to this new location is added space. In our garden area, the kids sat on the outside and had to reach in to play. Now several children can fit inside the boundaries and play comfortably without crowding.

We were able to start our flowerbeds this week and spent the week cleaning out the bed (the friends had transported lots of sand and rocks into Wee World) and getting it ready for planting.  I am extremely challenged when it comes to flowers and plants,so the garden doesn't stand a chance, but I try every year. We planted a ton of seeds, so hopefully something will grow!

I think as the days grow warmer, the respite of a cool shady place to play will draw more interest. I can't wait to see some of the imaginative scenes they come up with!

Wee World Update

The boys planning their strategy. 

Thought it was time for a Wee World update. After my last post on St. Patrick's Day, the kids started to leave Wee World. A few would visit here and there, but they kind of felt like their job was done. One or two friends played there the remaining couple of days that week.

This week, I decided we needed something to develop some sort of new interest. I got a small basket of burger joint toys, and some old people figures we had in blocks. When we took them out, the kids had a blast using the figures for imaginative play. This was exactly what I had hoped for when we got this going. The neat thing is that they can be a little more boisterous that they are able to in the classroom. I hope this type of play will continue for a long, long time!

 Planning a secret bee attack!

 "You be the Mommy and I'll be the Grandma......"

I think they are really enjoying exploring new possibilities in Wee World. It has become very interactive. I got a new notepad this weekend for all the wonderful anecdotal notes I'm sure to get next week. (I know, always trying to work the assessment in somewhere!)

Thank you again, Teacher Tom. Without your wonderful idea and all your inspiring Little World posts, I would not be able to see all this wonderful learning in action!

The Wee World ~ It's A Whole New World!

Today, we began our "Wee World" adventure!

When I read Teacher Tom's first post about his Little World, I was quite intrigued. His whole approach to preschool education is intriguing to me (alas, that is another post), but the Little World spoke to me. I spent hours upon hours as a child engrossed in the imaginary play of Barbie and other dolls. Kids these days still play with dolls and action figures, but not nearly as much as previous generations, probably due to the plethora of technology at their disposal. Tom's Little World seems to bring kids back that world of imagination. While completely captivated by the idea, I initially felt it was not something I would be able to implement in our current environment. The idea slowly went from being something that I would like to implement someday, to something I had to do NOW.

As we began talking about leprechauns, the kids expressed an interest in catching them. When I asked what they would do with them if they caught them, surprisingly, they really didn't have an interest in the pot of gold, but more in finding new playmates. I realized this was the perfect way to introduce my own mini version of a Little World.  I approached one of my parents, Mrs. G. and asked if she would help. After reading Teacher Tom's blog posts she was very enthusiastic. I decided to start the Wee World as a small group activity, worked into our small group rotation.

Mrs. G. came today to facilitate the groundbreaking, as our first small group began building the foundations for our "Wee World". Today was an interesting dynamic because this particular group was all boys. We'll see how things progress and change when the girls get in the mix. Since Mrs. G. worked so closely with them, she's going to send me some notes on how things went and some of the discussions that occurred.

Recently, while shopping at Michael's for a few seasonal supplies I found these cute birdhouses for only a dollar so I bought a few. As one of our small group activities last week, the children painted them.

These are going to be some of the structures for the Wee World.

I am so impressed with the trees they made! They put chunks of moss on top of sticks to make trees for the leprechauns. We've read several stories where leprechauns seem to hide in trees occasionally, so this must be an important part of their world.

The kids asked for twine to tie the sticks together. (I'm not sure what these structures are, yet, but they sure enjoyed making them!)

After tying the sticks together, they decided they would hang twine from the stairs so the leprechauns could go from their world to ours!

After getting the layout all set, the children set out to find materials on the playground. Some of them came up with a bowl and a bead that looks like a life saver candy. This was instantly turned into a "pool with a floatie"!

When I got the birdhouses for the kids to paint, I bought one I planned to paint for our bathroom. I finally decided I would paint it colorfully and let that be my contribution to the Wee World. I thought the kids would think the rainbow colors would be attractive to the leprechauns. I hope they like it! 

I am so glad we decided to try this. It will definitely be an interesting experiment. This is our garden patch, so we may have to move it if it catches on. Lucky me, I think we've already found the perfect spot!

St. Patrick's Day Activities

As those who know me understand, I am a complete NUT for St. Patrick's Day!!! I go all out. I dress up, wear green and silly hats almost every day for weeks, read stories with an Irish brogue and set traps and search for leprechauns.  The leprechauns visit my class daily and make a little mess. Sometimes they leave a note or a treat. The fun is in the magic.

I admit, I am having BIG FUN!!! But I think my kids are really learning, too. It is still early in our St. Patrick's Day season, but I wanted to share some of the fun we're already having.




Leprechauns Come To Visit
Almost daily, the "Leprechauns" come to our room and visit. These mischievous creatures make a mess, play with our toys, and occasionally leave notes or special snacks. 

The friends discovering a tableau made by the Leprechauns!

Graphing Lucky Charms cereal:
 We downloaded graphs from Teaching Heart and graphed Lucky Charms cereal as a small group activity.

  

Math Games
I tend to make quick games similar to this for most of my themes. We do a variety of activities with these. Roll the dice and count the appropriate number of pieces of gold to put on the shamrock. The kids always love this type of game, and I can use it for a variety of assessment purposes or they can play independently. I also have a set of shamrocks with uppercase and lowercase letters for matching, some with weather pictures, and a set with a few of the sight words some of the friends have learned.

 
Following Directions to Draw a Leprechaun

We did a following directions activity from a Mailbox magazine several years ago. Step by step, the children follow directions to make a picture. In the end, it turns out to be a leprechaun. This is great---not only do they learn to follow directions, but many of the friends having been drawing leprechauns on their own since completing the activity!

Multicultural Leprechauns
  One of my friends noticed that all of the leprechaun decorations we had purchased had leprechauns with light skin. "Mrs. Ayn, why aren't there any leprechauns with brown skin?" I didn't know what to say. I usually try to have a very multicultural classroom where everyone feels included. I was horrified to realize that I hadn't noticed the lack of multicultural leprechauns!  We decided that we wanted ALL the leprechauns that visit our room to feel welcome and included, so we made some dark skinned leprechauns to decorate our room and bulletin boards, too.

Several of her friends wanted this leprechaun to have friends that looked like him, as well, so they made dark skinned leprechauns, too!

Leprechaun Traps!

My friends have set about the task of catching the leprechauns. I really don't think they are interested in the gold, but more in finding new and interesting playmates! Here are a few of the traps the friends have made this week.

A Preliminary glimpse into the "Wee World" Planning Phase

My friend, Teacher Tom has written some AMAZING posts about his Little World, a land of imaginary play outdoors. If you haven't read any of the Little World posts, you really should---I know you'll be glad you did! I've watched his idea morph into a spectacular experience for the children AND adults at his school. I was taken by the idea from his first post, but felt it was not something I would be able to implement in our class. With each successive post, I became more and more intrigued, until the ideas were spinning in my head! I decided I would do a mini version in the area that will be our small garden patch later in the spring. I knew that I would probably need help, even if we tried this on a smaller scale. As luck would have it, I have a parent who has recently become available to help out more in the classroom and had offered to assist with any upcoming projects.

I told Luke's mom about Teacher Tom and the things he was doing. I explained how inspired I'd been and how I wanted to help the children build some sort of imaginary world that they could play in outside. She said she'd be glad to help, but she really wasn't sure about this. Would I mind sending her the links so she could check out Teacher Tom's Little World to understand what I was thinking? I agreed, but secretly thought that while she would definitely be impressed, that she may feel this was too big an undertaking for her.

She came back the next morning just beaming and looked at me and said, "Mrs. Ayn, I'm on board. I'm all in!" She explained that she would be out of town all this week, so she would not be able to help me get going until next week. She thought maybe we should see if any parents had old birdhouses laying around to donate for our "Wee World". Great idea!

This past weekend, I was shopping at Michael's for a few seasonal supplies and a little old lady stopped me as she completely blocked the aisle. "Would you look at these? They are so cute. They are only a dollar---I think I'm going to get one for each of my grandchildren for summer projects." I looked and she was holding the cutest unfinished birdhouses. Needless to say, I bought several!

With the recent visits by our Leprechaun friends, the children have decided the "Wee World" will be a place for the Leprechauns to live and play. In the words of one of my dear little friends, "Mrs. Ayn, we should build the Leprechauns a comm-U-ni-ty! That's what they need. They are here, far from home and they need a community!" So that's what we're gonna do! I'm sure I will have future posts about progress in the "Wee World" as we move forward.