During the month of October, the Tod squad took part in lots of fun experiences celebrating the Fall season. We talked about the holidays of Thanksgiving and Diwali, their significance and how it brings our families together in celebration. It also gives us the opportunity to reflect and think about all the people and things that we love and are so thankful for. With the cooler weather that autumn brings the toddlers have been busy running around in their natural environment. Listening as the wind moves the leaves up in the trees and observing how the leaves beneath them, as they walk make crunching sounds. We have also experimented with how high we can throw handfuls of leaves up in the air and watch them gently land on our heads or back onto the ground. “1 little, 2 little, 3 little leaves” sang Jacob and Leo as they would throw the leaves so high and then burst out in giggles as they fell onto the ground. “More!” said Seerat as she laughed along with her friends. These experiences had the children using their imaginations, creativity and developing stronger connections with their peers. One crisp morning after gathering the fallen leaves from our playground the toddlers participated in an indoor sensory experience which the educators called, “Fall soup”. In our large sensory bin there was water, pine cones, leaves, acorns and small pumpkins and white paint to give the appearance of soup. For scooping we added bowls, containers, ladles and spoons. We first worked together to mix the paint into the water using our hands. “I’m mixing” said Quinn as she splashed the murky water around with her hands. We then identified the different fall items we were going to put in our Fall soup. There was much anticipation as we added one ingredient at a time, “leaves!” exclaimed Teddy as he took a handful from the educator and dropped them into our soup. “Leaves are outside too!” said Isla as she used her spoon to scoop some up and place them inside her bowl. This sensory experience had them using their fine motor and eye hand coordination skills as they were pouring, scooping and mixing the ingredients together or sorting them. This Fall sensory experience gave them a chance to embrace messy play while also learning the valuable lessons of working together, sharing, taking turns, having creative collaboration, and using their imaginations.
