Dear Bears Families,
Feelings continue to be a focal point for the Bears Curriculum through books, music, art, and discussions. They so enjoyed reading together “Today I Feel Silly and Other Moods That Make My Day” by Jamie Lee Curtis with pictures by Laura Cornell. They then danced to different music, declaring themselves silly, happy, etc. One such song was the Bobby McFarrin classic “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.” The Bears also read “Don’t Cry, Big Bird” by Sarah Roberts and discussed together how you can help a friend feel better, with responses including: hugs, sharing toys, playing together, and asking them if they’re okay. A wonderful and amusing recently-published book read by the Bears is “The Day the Crayons Quit” – by Drew Daywalt with pictures by Oliver Jeffers – about a disgruntled box of crayons who write letters to their owner about their perceived misuse and under-appreciation by him. The Bears then drew their own pictures with all the colors from the book.
Some recent art activities in the Bears include working with clay and finger-paints (both are wonderful tactile experiences that can be so, so soothing); drawing with colored chalk on black paper; stroke paintings in which the teachers placed on a piece of paper different colored dots of paint that the children then stroked uni-directionally with a paintbrush; and block-yarn prints, made by wrapping yarn around square and rectangular blocks, dipping them in yellow, red, and blue paint, and printing them on a large piece of paper. (See these displayed on the closet doors.) All the Bears have also been eagerly working on their foil art project for the Collective Auction – be sure to bid on it! (A photo will be displayed soon on the on-line auction site.)
And with some of these recent warm, lovely days, the Bears have been happily going off to play at the Lincoln Playground, where one Bear announced, “We need spring, summer, and fall to push winter away!” May it only happen very soon!
Cheers,
Martha