- created our own sound museum (varied containers made of different materials, with five acorns each),
- gone on listening walks (total silence, stopping to share what we hear, creating a 'sound' poem),
- banged on drums,
- worn blindfolds when playing Magna Tiles and painting pictures,
- worked with pumpkin-scented playdough,
- tasted a variety of apples (Granny Smith was a favorite!),
- made visual timers (clear plastic bottles and mixtures of oil, glitter, paint, and waterbeads),
- participated in smell tests (the children had the funniest words for smells they could not see),
- listened to John Coltrane (he put sounds from his environment into his music),
- hidden in a dark cave (well, a cardboard box...),
- dared to take three growing bites of lunch foods we didn't think we'd like,
- raced toy cars through paint (because, why not?),
- explored birdseed, waterbeads, sand, shredded paper, and more, with our bare hands,
- created a sensory alphabet (cover the cardboard letter with glue and then dip it into all sorts of different materials and textures),
- on and on and on.
All the while, we think about which senses we are using, and why things are the way they are. Preschool is a time of wonder. Children learn best when their senses are employed. Learning in the Big Cars classroom is hands-on, active, and process-oriented. There will be lots more experimentation throughout this year.
"Experience is not the best teacher, it is the only teacher.
If it's in their hands, it's in their hearts, and in their brain."
- Bev Bos
