SPRING BREAK!!!

We have had so much in TASK for Spring Break. The kids have enjoyed seeing their friends from different schools and getting to play outside in this beautiful weather we have had. We played in centers, watched movies, played games outside, played on electronics, did art projects, and experimented with science. Take a look at just some of the fun we have had this week. 

Just hanging out on the playground

Playing with water beads

 (these beads start off small and expand in water)

 They feel really cool. 

Reading in our new cozy house! 

The boys playing with Kinetic sand in the science center. 

They were burying fossils for others to find later. 

Having fun loading and transporting toys to different places in the room. 

The girls listening to music and having fun with instruments. 

Playing on the computer during quiet time. 

"Naked Egg" experiment. 

We put an egg in vinegar early in the week.

 The vinegar caused the shell to dissolve leaving a "naked egg"

To learn more about TASK and why we think PLAY is so important click here

Flubber Fun!

Yesterday was President's Day so the TASK friends were here all day. We had so much fun playing with our friends, watching movies, and getting to play outside in the beautiful weather. We also decided to put our scientist hats on and make some "Flubber" or "Gak" as some of the kids liked to call it. We mixed glue, water, borax, and food coloring to make this slimy fun goo. The kids even noticed that the stuff really bounced so they made some bouncy balls with it. The recipe is below along with some pretty great pictures of the kids playing with it. 

In bowl 1 mix 

• 3/4 cup cold water
• 1 cup of elmer's glue
• food coloring (we used green)

In bowl 2 mix

• 1/2 cup of hot water
• 1 teaspoon of borax (you can find this in a box in the laundry aisle)
• stir the borax into the water until it completely dissolves

Slowly add glue mixture to borax mixture, mix well, and pour off excess water. 

To find out more about T.A.S.K and why we think it is important to make science fun click here

Painting in TASK

Today in TASK, we decided we wanted to be painters. The kids had a lot of fun using watercolors to make beautiful pictures. We hung them up in the classroom for everyone to see. We believe it is really important to let kids use their imaginations and paint whatever they like. This month I have been noticing a lot of hearts. We also have patterns and family portraits. I love seeing all of the different things they create. 

If you would like to learn more about why we think art is important click here

Bake Sale!!

Monday was MLK day and the T.A.S.K kids were out of school, so that means they got to play with their friends all day. Last week, we were talking about raising money for charity and what we could do to help the community. They decided that it would be fun to have a bake sale and a lemonade stand. They all created a sign and were given a job for the day. 

Some of the jobs included: 

• Banker (keeping up with the money)
• Advertising (This person asked parents and teachers if they would like anything)
• Making the lemonade
• Pouring the lemonade
• Giving out the cookies

We set the stand up in the enrichment room, and we got a lot of business. The kids really enjoyed it and learned a lot about working together. 

The kids wanted to make regular and pink lemonade. They got to measure out the cups and add the water. 

Their favorite part was stirring.

We had brownies, cookies, rice crispy treats, and lemonade. 

They had a hard time not eating all the goodies before we sold them. 

If you want to learn more about why we love our community click here

Graph the Leaves!

This week in our TASK program, we have a fun seasonal activity lined up for the kids!  We are going on a leaf hunt!  After our nature walk, we are going to graph the leaves as we ask questions about the leaves to the students.  When we are done graphing our leaves, we will make a leaf collage!  It is sure to be a lot of FALL fun and we can't wait to show you our final product!

If you would like to learn more about why we love fall fun, click here!

Self Portraits

What a fun idea!  We asked our TASK students to make an illustration on how they see themselves.  We saw some very impressive and interesting portraits!     

Children’s drawings are their earliest attempts at writing and an important phase in their overall development. It is a phase when they represent what they have experienced with their senses when drawing in dry or wet sand, with water on a dry wall or on paper. It is not easy to use stubby and clumsy little fingers (2-4years) to say what they mean, and that is why a scribble can be a fire engine, a bat or scramble eggs. Converting thoughts onto paper is a skill that takes years to develop and goes hand in hand with ‘reading’ their own pictures by looking at their works of art and reconstructing their own thoughts and feelings before saying it out aloud.

If you would like to learn more about why we value creativity, click here!

Imagination Station!

This week our theme is Imagination Station, and it has been a TON of fun! Lots of really great things have been happening in T.A.S.K. So far, we've imagined that we were at a restaurant in Italy - we had four-star chefs, a full dining room with the highest quality spaghetti and meatballs, and a wait staff that was perfection. We've also imagined that our block center was a farm, with lots of animals, barns, and horse stalls. 

Today Miss Danie brought in a big tub of Magic Nuudles! These are super cool. With just a little bit of water, we can mold them into whatever sculpture we want! It was so much fun to turn this....

into this with just a little water and a whole lot of imagination!!!

It was pretty interesting to figure out exactly how much water we needed to make the Magic Nuudles stick to each other, and how much water was TOO much water. Then we set them on the table to dry.

If you want to know why we think imagination is so important, click here!