Toddler Engagement in Geography, Mapping, Habitats and The Naming of Animals - Part 3

Although acquisition of language is a corner stone element to all the work done in the toddler environment,  I want to note various other skills the toddlers have been learning via this work.

How to use a spoon to stir inside a bowl. Here they are making a batch of our salt dough.



How to use a rolling pin.


How to make an impression in clay.
 


  How to roll clay into a ball.



Introduction to flags and flag making.





Introduction to trails or pathways.




Introduction to pattern repetition and recognition.





Introduction to intentional drawing vs scribbling.

Note on video: Most of the other students scribbled quickly, lost interest and walked away. This student worked on his drawing for 15 minutes or more. He would stop, raise his arms, look at the work and then return to it. He was so focused on his work and absolutely quiet. When he finished, I asked him what he had drawn. He answered, "Racoons eating." He often requests to use our plastic racoon when he is working with the salt dough. He frequently does the Antarctica work, walking around the table with one animal or another in his hands, marking trails with them and moving here and there navigating the flour "snow" covered paper. Now he is making great effort to draw a landscape where racoons eat. He didn't scribble. He drew with intentionality. Here is the video:


I see a map that includes bodies of water and, yes, even racoons.



And the list continues - introduction to prepositions is obvious: above, below, over, under. I will probably sneak back now and then and add more. Yet, I am going to switch gears a bit and write about art in the toddler classroom in my next few posts. Oh, and their sewing, too. They love to sew!