Carolyn’s

Play House Highlights

January 2005

Hi parents…

As August comes to an end, I thought to fill you in some recent goings-on around here. It turns out our newest member, Zoe, shares our love of The spinning song, Following the leader, zoo animals, soapy water at the water table, roaring like a lion, making tea, caring for baby dolls and being extremely silly. One day we were sitting around at the table after snack and Leah surprised herself with a whistle sound when she tried to drink juice from the empty sippy cup. Zoe and I thought this very funny; pretty soon Louisa got the joke and we had a good laugh, just us girls. This led to the musical Louisa inventing her own noises, like tongue sounds and the sound of water. Speaking of…

Sound and music and movement

Toddler-style circle times can include bouncing hula hoops down the hall and into the living room (perhaps in time to piano marching music); Carolyn and Max on the piano for Old Mac Donald -- accompanied by the Carolyn’s Play House rhythm band; our own version of ‘Hello Everybody Yes Indeed’ naming each child in turn; Liam quietly playing the piano along with The Spinning Song (and getting the tempo and dynamics just right); all holding hands in a circle that gets smaller and bigger (and falls down on purpose at the end), and climbing over our pillows around and around the round table to Here we go round the Mulberry Bush (‘this is the way we brush our teeth, go to sleep, reach the stars, stretch up high,’ and any other movement you might imagine).

One day Zoe and Max were baby birds in their hula hoop nests. I sang and played, up and down the scale, a song about baby birds hatching from the shells and growing up and up and up and up and going down and down and down, and of course flying. (Quite honestly I think Zoe mostly liked the curling-up-in-a-cozy-circle aspect of the game.) And when it was time to fly, Max became a spectacular bird with elbows pointing out and hands curving into his body, head back and making the most wonderful sound. When asked he said (with evident pride) he was an eagle.

But for me the best music just happens, all on its own, often started by the children. One day at music time Benjamin sang Mary had a little lamb in his enchanting quiet-but-strong voice. The children listened intently to every word. Another time Leah started her all-time (at the time) favorite, Twinkle, twinkle little star and we all joined in. And yet another time Liam (for some reason) said ‘uh oh!’ and we all said it over and over and over again, for no reason at all except for the sound of it.

Leah, ever the hostess, likes to get plates and cups .

We have a picnic and cut pieces one at a time into bowl. Leah goes to get plates and cups for everyone.

Play and more play

Parallel play

Liam was working at his trains, pulling them along the table in the playroom. At the same time Leah had her purse, asking for help opening it and putting in her toy zebra and closing it, learning to say ‘help’ when she wanted help. Julian, meanwhile, put his trains through the window of the dollhouse, one after the other (I showed them where they had gone, and he did it over and over.) Liam looked up from his trains, with interest, at Leah’s efforts, and went back to his own work. Tai also looked up, at the time busy with wooden nesting blocks. Aditi with the pop-up toy, practicing a trick – placing a figure on the pop-up toy.

We are connected to their play, extend on it, they are delighted that we understand them.

One day we had fun with confetti – pulling at it, carrying it around in baskets (it was light!), throwing it. Later that day Max was in the kitchen and he found a pitcher, put some confetti in it, then put a pan on top, made a machine sound which stopped. There was no question about it – he had a blender. All done? I asked and he agreed. Then we all had a taste of the delicious mixture.

Another time Leah was engrossed in sliding a car down the slated roof of the house. You’ve made a slide, I said. She was having some trouble letting go of the car, so I put a basket underneath and showed her to slide the car into the basket. She smiled a very big smile, as if to say, ‘you understand’!

Today at music time – took tissue paper, learned how to tear, crumple, throw in the air, turn into butterflies, tickle with it, hide behind it, Liam tore into little pieces, Julian loved the butterflies, Aditi liked being tickled, at the Spinning Song we twirled with it, threw it up in the air, touched our toes at “Toe Leg Knee’.

On our own

May 22, 2005

Max puts things in a ‘blender’ with a pan on top for lid; Leah does the same, balancing. Makes the sound of the blender. All done! Gives me a cup. I show him fun of pretending to drink make believe water.

Liam and Max balancing on blocks; we make a road, then Leah decides to walk on it and everyone walks; Max balances, Liam walks one foot on and off. Go to sleep in the living room, lights out, blankets, wake up. Make a circle, in and out, all fall down.

Feathers, throw, take apart, soft, tickle; we walk and see birds, Tai points them out; looking for food. We make nests with confetti; confetti throw, carry in baskets, pull apart, sprinkle, listen to sound in ears.

Leah – brings one car for each person; takes away play dough to make circles and roll; adds on (addition and subtraction with play dough; one-to-one with giving each one a cup. Today she gave each person a stuffed animal.

Puppets – the puppets were playing instruments, dancing together. Old Mac Donald on the piano. They love to hear songs about themselves.

Songs:

The more we sing together the happier we’ll be (your friends are my friends, etc.).

February 26, 2005

Putting words to music and making sounds pleasurable…I sing to the children at lunch about what they are wearing (Sally wears a red dress) and they look at each other; we talk about who is wearing something gray; they love to hear about themselves and each other. Sky helps read the story about zoo animals, the older teach the younger. He looks at me meaningfully and talks about what he likes; I am an audience for this. We all laugh at Liam’s funny laugh; ‘he’s funny’ says Sky, very young they can appreciate each other. They want to be with each other, need a lot of help with it, that’s all.

Sky looked at the snow and said Mommy, Daddy, Baby snow flakes!

As the children get older, combining art with imagination makes it that much more special. As Dionysis had the idea of clouds with soap suds, I asked him if he also wanted to make clouds

The simplest materials can enhance dramatic play. The three boys had dolls; I gave them band aids for ‘boo-boos’ and cotton balls and water, and tissues to dry the boo-boo’s so the band-aids would stick.

Dear Nektaria,

Perhaps inspired by our recent snow falls, we have been using and thinking about white things lately  -- soap, snow, cotton balls, clouds, etc. One day recently we washed the big dollhouse with lots of soapsuds, then used the watering can to rinse off the soap (which Dionysis very much liked!) and dried it with a towel. While working with the soap, Dionysis said he was making clouds. A couple of days later we made 'snow' using Ivory Snow detergent and water. Dionysis and Benjamin mixed in their own bowls, then got to use (plastic) knives to spread the snow on the brown cardboard (the earth, of course). Remembering his very good idea, I asked Dionysis if he wanted to make clouds also, and he did. Then we added glitter and voila! our very own winter scenes. (Suggesting a simple imaginative theme -- like making snow -- is enticing to them.Their art becomes an extension of their amazing pretend play.

And the simplest materials can enhance dramatic play. Malcolm, Andrew and Dionysis began to play with dolls. They loved the suggestion of band aids, cotton balls and water for ‘boo-boos’. They washed the babies' boo-boos, dried them so the band-aids would stick, and put on the band-aids, all by themselves. (Malcolm, by the way, put band-aids on the babies' eyes, saying they were crooked and had to be fixed!)

And this week Dionysis and Benjamin had the best time playing at the sink. At different times they used pieces of ivory soap, containers of different sizes, toy lizards, scrub brushes and shaving cream. Off came the shirts! Benjamin put his soap in a cup and made bubbles all by himself, loving to pour the pieces of soap back and forth from one cup to another. Dionysis decided the pieces of soap were for the lizards to eat, and then rocks for them to rest on. The scrub brushes were a big hit for scrubbing the sink and making great sounds, and the shaving cream was exactly like snow, and soft and smooth. We made up our very own 'slippery soap' chants and it turns out you can use soap for many things -- scraping, feeding lizards, squeezing and slipping (pop!) up out of your hands. (Later that morning at snack, Dionysis was making funny faces and Benjamin was laughing so hard that we all started laughing.)

That's all for now -- from Carolyn's Play House!

Best,

Carolyn

4/1/05

Dear Nektaria,

This morning Dionysis showed me his shirt when he came in, with a little and big shark and their corresponding teeth. It made me think of a book we have about water animals, and we looked at mommy and baby dolphins, an octopus, and other water animals. Then we looked at a book about colors. One page had colors that were very bright, and another with dull colors. We used the words, ‘bright’ and ‘dull’. He sat and read a book on his own – ‘From Head to Toe’, which he loves Each page has an animal and its movements; he knows the whole book and was ‘readiing’ it. He did each movement, and we asked Leah if she can do it too. One is shrugging shoulders. Leah imitated all of his movements.

Music and Sound

At lunch the Benjamin led the children in song; they sang Old Mac Donald together, all on their own. He is our best song leader, and Dionysis loves to sing with him. This is the best, these moments when they are in the world.

Dear Melody,

One day at music time Benjamin sang ‘Mary had a little lamb’ in his quiet, strong voice. The children listened intently to every word. And then Dionysis volunteered’ Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’ and we all sang along. Songs bring added pleasure in the spoken word. And another day Benjamin and Dionysis sat at the piano. Dionysis banged as if it were a drum (it is after all a percussion instrument) but to add a gentleness to the touch I told a story about elephants who chased after (Benjamin at the low notes) birds (myself at the high notes); endless chasing but could not catch them. Suddenly the mommy elephant came to take care of her children (Dionysis said he was the mommy elephant close to Middle C; and soon little fingers were dancing around the keys as we told our story.

At story time we read one of our favorites, ‘Froggy’, with the children adding their ‘flop, flop, flop’s’ as I closed my eyes and listened for their sound effects. So many ways to have fun with sound.

Just as the children love to listen to Benjamin’s songs they love to imitate Dionysis’ movements.

Dear Amy,

We took out some bigger trucks today. Leah spent a long time figuring out how to sit on it and give herself a ride – a different use than I had in mind but one perfectly suited for a small and intelligent person such as herself.

At the water table Benjamin called the half-sponge a moon. I loved the idea and put it on the blackboard and it stayed there, in the black night.

Dionysis spent a long time washing a little bowl, intent on this task he had set for himself. I suggested rinsing the soap off with cool water from the watering can, which he loved (more interested in the pouring than the rinsing, it appeared, as he kept dunking the bowl in the soapsuds over and over again.

4/3/2005

Liam and Max sat facing each other, imitating each other’s noises and

Tai jumped for joy, three times, in front of the mirror and then marched off to get her snack from the fridge. She sat at the table and drew with us, asking for stickers, drawing on the stickers.

We sang our marching song to the fridge to get our snacks.

Dear Anna,

 5/15/2005

Mieke had such a nice day yesterday. Here's an example: she and Aditi played for a long time at the water table, washing the baby and then the blackboard with sponges. Mieke took the board out of the table herself, dried it with the towel and put it back, and then she and Aditi went back to work. They can work together for such a long time like this, working things out on their own, enjoying each other's company.

 I gave them pink chalk to use on the board and they painted with brushes on the pink -- we made pink paint! I put a piece of paper on the chalk board and Mieke loved painting it onto the board, as she said, 'making it blue' (the water made the light blue paper darker blue), and drawing lines on it with the pink chalk. She turned it around to see what had happened on the other side. We took it off the board and showed it to everyone, to Mieke's delight.

 Mieke also worked a long time at the clay table. At snack time we read 'A home for Liz' which is about finding the right kind of home for a lizard (the rock turned out to be the best!) which Mieke and Rosie really liked. And we went to the park...

Anyway, just some tidbits -- it was all around a great day!

Carolyn

Dear Nektaria,

At the play dough table today, Liam and Dionysis made people footprints on the play dough, and then Dionysis decided to make a head print, by turning the figure upside down. Liam did the same. He went in the play room and later came back with a board, which he used to pound the play dough, a good idea. Then we used the play dough to turn the board into a see saw, which Dionysis loved. We put figures on it and sang 'See saw, Marjorie daw'.

He also liked jumping on the pillows from the couch, imitating little birds on the high notes of the piano (I was a galloping horse on the middle notes), later with Benjamin and Max opening his beak for worms brought by mommy bird, and climbing on the ladder in the loft and touching the star (he is just teaching himself to climb down).

Dear Melody,

Today Benjamin went right to the play dough table and used the cutting tool to cut pieces of play dough. He had lots of fun at the snack table, laughing with Dionysis, read on his own at the couch, and played with the train tracks, fitting the tracks on his own.

Dear Amy,

This morning I had people figures on the table in the living room. Leah said ‘more’ and went to the playroom and got another one and put it upright on the table. Then she went and got another, and another one. Then she gave each of them a drink of juice!

Later I put a play tiger in a box, and a lid on it, and played ‘where’s the tiger’ with Leah. Then Max came by and put the polar bear mommy and her babies in the box, getting them all to fit in for a cozy nap. Then he got the beach ball and sat on it, and played ‘tummy ball’ on it, and then Leah did the same, I held her hands and she rolled on it, back and forth, and watched herself in the mirror and she loved it so much! Later on Max got a book and was sitting on the beanbag chair, looking at it. Leah got herself a book too, and sat next to Max. Then she went and got me a book, so each of us had one! I was asking Max where different animals were in the picture, and I asked if he would show Leah, and he did, each one, and Leah was just so pleased.

She also climbed the ladder in the loft, all the way up, and has taught herself to climb all the way down, too. She loved jumping on the pillows from the couch (holding my hand), and marched with her instrument around in a circle at music time.

Best,

Carolyn

Here we are in the New Year and back in action at Carolyn’s Play House. The children are busy as ever with their art, music and pretend play, enjoying solitary moments and intent as ever on doing what they need to do. At our new dollhouse you might see Liam taking teacher, doctor, fireman, painter, one at a time, carefully guiding them through a window until they are all inside. Leah will take two of these on one of her long explores while Mieke and Aditi sit happily together putting a blanket on grandma or making play dough food for the table. Dionysis settles the mommy figure at her place of work (a school, as Mommy in real life is a teacher) and Max sits at the table with his pretend computer, working busily in the company of others. Then he gets up, takes his basket full of toys, goes to the doorway of the playroom and says ‘bye’; off he goes, presumably to work! Our new farm, another place for all to play side by side, is another big hit. And of course there is our all time favorite, the loft, or, as we like to call it, ‘upstairs’.

Some favorite games

One day we played this funny game at the blackboard and water table: I drew chalk lines and Dionysis erased them with paintbrush and water. I pretended to be mad, which Dionysis found hilarious. Then Liam drew the lines and eagerly awaited my (very silly) reaction. Soon Dionysis had the chalk and Liam the paintbrush and, on their own, happily drew and erased with much anticipation and laughter. Then Dionysis asked for music and we all marched around the table. The song got faster and faster, and pretty we were chasing each other around the table, first one way and then another. Very exciting! That day on our neighborhood walk we sang ‘We’re following Dionysis, the leader, the leader, the leader…’ Benjamin loved chasing ‘the leader’ and also when Dionysis gave him a big hug! That same day we had ‘toddlercise’ time, stretching way up high and low and then suddenly, ‘all fall down’ (the best part!). At lunch we all laughed at Dionysis’ comical ‘mad face’ after one of his favorite books, ‘I was so mad!’

Water, walking and lunch

Often you will see Aditi and Mieke washing baby dolls in the water table. Aditi loves all the suds, covering her doll with them. She likes using a watering can to pour and rinse the baby’s hair. When it’s time to wash hands before lunch, these two stand at the bathroom sink for long times, washing hands, filling up plastic bottles with water, pouring, and scooping with shovels. One day Mieke smiled at the scent of lavender liquid soap on her hands, asking for more and more. Then she took Aditi’s bottle and offered her the one she was using, effectively making a trade, then filled Aditi’s bottle for her. (Earlier that morning, Aditi had surprised Mieke by giving her a play dough ‘cup cake’ with a candle.) At the art table, Aditi swirled white paint with food coloring to it to mix many new colors. Mieke liked shaving cream the best, using her hands to spread it on a tray and then printing with her hands on black paper. On our outing we took our chalk for a walk, and decorated the garden gate outside our building (with permission, of course, from Bernice – our chief 839 West End community gardener.) Then there was much running as we chanted ‘we’re late, we’re late, for a very important date’. At lunch, Mieke did her special job – bringing Aditi’s and her own lunch to the table. Aditi did her special job of sitting and waiting for Mieke to bring it!

Doing art together

Doing art at the kitchen (big kid’s) table is one of Max’s favorite things. One day he sat next to Dionysis and mixed glue, asking for more and more (‘mo,’ ‘mo’) food coloring; mixing it (imitating ‘round, round, round’ with his own sound) and then for the first time spread glue on paper. Meanwhile Dionysis, with a painterly approach, made thick lines of color with serious deliberation. Another time Max explored droppers with watered paint of all colors. He carefully dipped and painted with them on the round filter paper, trying different colors. One tray over Benjamin, abstract expressionist style, soon figured out it was much quicker to unscrew the droppers from the little bottles and pour swirls of watery paint on the tray. He was singularly unimpressed when I held up the filter, which had been taped to the tray, now dripping with color. He was busy looking for more colors to pour! Picture two hard-working scientists in their lab, complete with smocks and droppers and liquids and trays and colors combinations.

Music and stories and stuff

At music time Leah watches intently as Dionysis twirls to his all time favorite, Spinning Song. One day she started spinning too, to the Wee Sing song tape. She did this so much she swayed! Liam loves to listen for the end, take a beat and clap and shout ‘Yea…!’ at the end of each song. Leah takes it all in, doesn’t miss a thing. Another of her favorite spots is the water table. One day she took a magnet from the fridge and threw it in, watched it float away. She pointed for me to get it but we waited a minute and it came back to her and she grabbed it, quite pleased with her prize. Liam tooled along and we added some bubbles. He splashed vigorously as I said ‘Splash’! He splashed again and said ‘splash’ himself, equaling the splash’s intensity with his voice. Leah thought it was great fun and added her own sound effects.

Music is definitely in the air these days. Mieke hums quietly to herself while playing, and accompanies our sings with drums. Liam happily sings more songs every day and find first the high and then the low notes at piano. Max’s all-time favorite (and therefore one of ours) is rocking out at the keyboard, and Leah plays the cymbals and puts them to her ears to hear vibrations. Benjamin asks for songs again and again so he can do his own bouncy rocking dance and soak up melodies and lyrics. And Dionysis with great gusto leads marching bands with imaginary instruments to Following the Leader, The Ants go Marching Two by Two, and Finger Band has Come to Town. At Pop Goes the Weasel Max waits eagerly for the ‘pop’, during Sneezing Song joins in on a mighty ‘hachoo’, and for Little Bunny Foo Foo all the children have their own finger bunny rabbits and ‘bops’.

Some favorite stories these days: I Was so Mad, Froggy Gets Dressed, Mine, Baby Sister Says No, Baboon, Alligator in the Elevator, Tumble Bumble. One day we read Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and sang the ABC Song. One day after hearing Little Gorilla (who grows bigger and bigger and still everyone loves him), everyone became as small as they could and at the sound of the drum grew bigger and bigger until there were big gorillas chasing each other through the jungle (and still everyone loved them!). Then we banged on the table or floor, (‘listen to the herd of elephants,’), getting louder and louder, louder, then softer as they move far away, and suddenly, STOP!

Finally, everyone is learning the cleanup song and marching-to-the-fridge-to-get-your-lunch song. And one late morning Aditi invited Mieke to a formal dance with scarves and pocket books and accompanied by (very) improvised piano music.

*Play dough and clay play

We figure out that it is easier to roll a little bit of play dough. Mieke uses chop sticks. We pour play dough as if it’s water from measuring cup to measuring cup. Liam works with very very tiny pieces. Leah likes to smash balls. They are too young to be ‘taught’ how to make something. (nest with eggs)

More mad-dash art

Here are some of our latest and greatest mad-dash art experiments. We use brushes and rollers to spread white paint on a tray, draw into the paint with q-tips, add food coloring, press down pressed black paper onto the paint and voila, a print! And the day we used droppers to mix watered paints onto coffee filters, we discovered it’s cool to look at these up near the light. At Christmas time we pressed bows and ribbons onto sticky paper (and off again), and one day dipped bows into glue and then stuck them to boxes, which we filled with colored tissue paper hiding surprise jewels. And all the time we are drawing on paper plates, together at the drawing table, on murals – with markers, cray-pas, pencils, crayons, colored glue and even sometimes ribbons on sticky paper.

Play and learning

*Independence. Max goes to get his favorite animals, Liam and Leah race down the hall, bouncing their balls,. They grow in independence and learning - - hand in hand.

Liam and Maxie at the window with their trucks, looking at trucks out the window, so very much enjoying each other’s company.

On our walk Mieke stops along the way to ‘read’ a sign in a garden bed and Aditi wanders over to listen to her friend. Liam splashes with great delight at the water table, and repeats a word he has heard with the joyful force of the splash itself (S-P-L-A-A-A-A-S-H)! As we chant and rhyme and pause for the children to say the last rhyming word, Max responds with a syllable of his own (a staccato ‘P-A-H!’) in exactly the right place. Up in the loft, Dionysis works the rabbit-in-a-hat puppet for Benjamin to dance below; later guides him gently to the fridge, saying ‘come on Benjamin,’ and off they go for their lunch bags. On one of her explores, Leah picks up a ribbon, snaps it with hands on both ends and listens with pleasure at the sound she has just made. She does this over and over again. Her eyes twinkle as she looks up at the big person who smiles at her discovery.

When young children are happily engaged with and around others, they have significant language, musical, sensory, social, cognitive, and even early literacy experiences. As they play they delight in learning many new words and meanings. They have musical experiences, which are meaningful precisely because they are fun! While playing they may also learn of comfort and friendship to be found outside their families. Young children not only need to constantly explore physical properties of materials, but also to feel proud of their inventions. They begin to know what it is to be independent and confident. In these ways these young children build on the crucial learning begun at home with their first and most important teachers.