Talking Turkey

October was a busy month!  Our older friends took a walk to see a firetruck the local fire department brought to campus.  It was so nice of the firefighters to visit us at the beginning of the month! 

​To continue the firetruck theme in the classroom,we read books that featured firetrucks, sang a firetruck song, and spent time engaging with a basket of fire themed items.  Inside was a squeaky firetruck, and chunky wooden puzzle pieces of a firefighter, fire hydrant, and a Dalmatian.  All of our friends loved engaging with this work for most of the month.

Now that fall is in full swing, we have been enjoying many pumpkins and gourds that have been donated to our classroom!  Our friends have spend lots of time exploring them with their hands and sometimes their mouths.  Our oldest friends have been interested in picking up the larger squash and smaller pumpkins and carrying them for short distances.  Our younger friends have been more interested in feeling the different textures of the pumpkins and gourds with their hands and occasionally their mouths.  From time to time the smaller pumpkins would be used to experiment with making large sounds on different surfaces around the  classroom.  Everyone enjoyed looking at pumpkin books and singing pumpkin songs.  Some of the big hits were Five Little Pumpkins illustrated by Dan Yaccarino and My Pumpkin by Lily Karr.  Most of our songs involved counting pumpkins in one way or another.  It has been so much fun watching everyone interact with all of the different jack-o'-lantern works around the classroom!

A popular work that all of our friends enjoy using during the day is our floor drum.  Each friend engages with it in their own way.  Some like to hear how loud they can drum with their hands, while others have discovered they can use their feet to play a beat.  Sitting and kicking their feet has proved to be a very fun and productive way to play the drum.  Jumping songs have been a big hit during circle time and often friends will sign jump when they want Ms. Sara to sing a jumping song; particularly "Jumping Froggies".

Towards the end of the month we said "see you soon" to Isabel as she moved on to her toddler classroom.  It has been nice to see her stop by the window to peek in at her old friends when she is on the playground.  We welcomed our newest friend to Ambarino, Teigen.  It has been such fun to get to know her and listen to her sweet voice as she chatters away.  

In November turkeys will be the talk of Ambarino!  We will read books about them and sing a special turkey song.  We will also talk about leaves that we see outside on the trees and ground as well as leaves we see inside the classroom.  Our gourds and pumpkins will still be a big part of the room is we continue to use our larger pumpkins as a posting work.  

Be sure to bundle up as the temperatures are getting cooler around the Pacific Northwest! Happy Fall!
​

---