Beavers and Bears

Beavers and Bears

Busy Beavers – It’s our lesson on beavers and I start out by asking the kids some questions about beavers to review what the kids know.

What do beavers use to build their homes?

-Trees

What do they cut the trees down with?

-Their teeth

What do they use their tale for?

-They slap the water with it to warn the other beavers

What kind of animals would want to hurt beavers?

-        Wolves

Where are they getting their answers? I’ll be honest. I don’t think I knew that wolves hunt beavers. I’m surprised that these 3 year olds (make that 3 and 4 year olds) know so much about beavers.

Then I realize it – they have absorbed these answers right from the Alphabet House music CD for the month. The song Busy Beavers is so cleverly catchy but the deeper genius behind the music and fun is the learning. The information is there and the kids are absorbing it before I even open my mouth and start teaching it to them.

More and More I’m inspired to find ways to feed them knowledge without them even knowing it, to sneak our teaching into play and our rules, our structure and order into things that are warm and familiar. If they are seedlings, then it’s our jobs to be the greenhouse. Simply make it easy for them to grow, make sure they have what they need and then stand back and watch them grow. Learning isn’t something we make happen, it’s something we facilitate.

Animal Homes

In this activity after reading some books about bear dens and other animal habitats I encouraged the kids to build some animal habitats out of mud.

I love it when my baby gets to dig into our preschool activities. There are so many things that should just be a part of childhood, age-appropriate or not.

Mixing Mud

I let the kids mix up their dirt solution themselves providing them with water until they could get it a consistency that they preferred for building.

Beaver Lodge Craft

One thing I love about MGT crafts is that they provide so much room for creativity and interpretation. Think about how important this skill is throughout life. Your boss gives you a budget, a team and asks for a specific end result. The person who keeps coming back asking how should I spend the money, what should I do with the people, what do you want me to do!? Ridiculous right!? No one wants to babysit a salaried employee and tell them step by step how to do the job they are being paid to do. Well if play is our children’s job and life skills is what we want to give them, we need to stand back more often and give them time and space to interpret instructions, use materials and create in a way that they are proud of and that allows them to express their individuality. This empowerment of autonomy and free range of creativity are building blocks that will serve them well all through life and follow them into successful careers. They CAN!

These two peas in a pod. This is our last day of childcare at Ms. Sonia's. 

'Make a mess - make it outside.' That's my new summer slogan.

{Just cause she's cute ~ Good bye}

Disclosure: I receive Mother Goose Time Curriculum free of charge for educational purposes in return for posting my honest experiences using the curriculum. Photos of children featured on my blog for review of Mother Goose Time are used with signed consent of the child's parents. I welcome any questions or concerns.