A Day in the Life at TMH Juniors!
/Hello All!
Today, we welcomed a new friend who was very sweet and special. The group had a great time getting to know him during hangout and snack where we did a lot of Halloween themed activities, including Halloween Spot It, make your own masks, reading books and completing activity sheets. Of course, the MagnaTiles and Inside Out books were a big hit when made a reappearance today!
After hangout, we completed our Halloween Slime (see below for recipe) that was started last week. We added the final ingredients and the kids then got to play with it afterwards. We purposely broke this activity into two weeks to teach the kids about being flexible, patient and adding onto ideas. They were really excited to see the slime come together, play with it for a little while and then take it home to show their parents and siblings.
During M-Chat, we introduced our new friend to expected and unexpected behaviors and how to use 5 in the group. We also read a great Halloween book called Hester, written by Byron Barton, that talks about Halloween, haunted houses and trick or treating in the city in a very friendly/non-scary way. It was a great way to get the kids thinking about all the different things they might see at a haunted house and brought them right into our next activity: making Halloween shadow puppets. Each of the kids came up with their own Halloween puppet that they wanted to draw. It was great to see them complimenting one another and cheering each other on when they noticed one of their friends was getting frustrated.
Becky and I are really happy about the way the kids are coming together as a group. Each week, we are noticing they they are becoming more comfortable around each other and trying new things. We were encouraged that we were able to take a step back during hangout because they began to initiate conversation more independently and expanded their creative play ideas to include things like MagnaTiles.
We hope everyone has a wonderful Halloween and can't wait to hear about everyone's adventures next week!
Becky and Meghan
Halloween Slime
What You Need:
- Elmer's white glue or Elmer's school glue gel
- Borax (find in the laundry detergent aisle of the store)
- Water
- Two bowls
- Food coloring (optional)
What You Do:
- In one bowl mix 1/2 cup (4 oz) glue and 1/2 cup water. Add food coloring if you want colored slime.
- In the other bowl, mix 1 teaspoon borax with 1 cup water until the borax is dissolved.
- Add the glue mixture to the borax solution, stirring slowly.
- The slime will begin to form immediately; stir as much as you can, then dig in and knead it with your hands until it gets less sticky. (No one makes slime without getting a little messy!) Don't worry about any leftover water in the bowl; just pour it out.
