Play Time - Not Just for Preschool

I've been gone too long (again), but...

We've been really busy learning through play in my afternoon kindergarten class!

We spelled our names with Wiki Stix...

(Side note: None of my kids had shown any interest in the wiki stix, but I sat down at the table where some children were playing with other toys and started spelling my first name on the desk. Suddenly, two kids joined me and asked to play too. I put the wiki stix out as a choice the next day, and most children played with them. This is something I need to remember... Children will follow my lead when they are sure of how to use the supplies. Seems like an easy concept, but it's not always easy to remember!)

The kids LOVE these huge Lego-type building blocks that I found in my parents' basement. I really like that there aren't a ton of blocks, so to build large sculptures (which they all want to do), they have no choice but to work together and share the blocks. This has caused more than one meltdown, but we have talked through each one. This group needs practice with navigating tricky social situations and handling emotions appropriately, so these blocks are a great tool.

They also have to use their spatial intelligence to fit all of the blocks back into the box when we clean up. Here they are trying to work together to make each block fit.

I bought cheap composition notebooks over the summer, and each child has a journal in the Art Center. A few of my students consistently spend all of choice time, drawing, cutting, gluing, and writing in their journals. I have decided that this can be a very free activity - no guidelines - beyond not cutting out the pages. I want the journals intact in May!

Dramatic play is a very popular center, especially among the girls. I dug through my old toys and brought in dolls, lots of clothes, beds, accessories. I also added some cooking supplies and hope to get more soon. Playing school has been the most popular dramatic play scenario, so far. There's something adorable and hilarious about the thought of "playing school" when they are AT school. I'm taking that as a sign that they like kindergarten!

I love that my kids still have time to play in kindergarten. Negotiating tricky social situations, taking turns, problem solving, creating something together - these skills are SO important. I fear that we're losing sight of them, in light of achievement scores, No Child Left Behind/Race to the Top, and education reform. Our children need to learn to read and write and solve mathematical equations, of course, but they also need to be able to work in a group, compromise, solve problems creatively and logically, and be critical thinkers.

At the end of the day, I hope I'm helping to foster those skills in my students.