Pumpkin exploration is so much fun this time of year, especially when they are from the  Smith Family Farm Pumpkin Patch. Here are three tried and true  ways we have loved to play, explore, and have fun with pumpkins galore!  1.  Fluorescent Pumpkin Soup Water Play:  This invitation was set with ladles, whisks, pots, bowls, buckets, a variety of clear containers, and a whole bunch of pumpkins/gourds. The water was mixed with Fluorescent BioColor® and set up in our outdoor Mud Kitchen & Water Play Area. The children were invited to create pumpkin soup! Inviting a child to create any type of pretend soup encourages so many levels of learning while they create. When a child is adding, scooping, pouring, transferring and stirring ingredients it fosters creativity and enables children to experiment with science and math concepts. Children begin to understand and investigate with ideas such as more/less, same/different, many/few, empty/full, before/after, greater than/less than. Children also learn physics principles such as the effects of force (increasing the waterflow through increased force); effects of gravity (water runs downhill) etc. The social learnings from creating soup together include collaboration, concentration, turn taking, problem solving, perseverance, self-regulation, and more. Children also gain physical learning through precision in pouring and eye-hand coordination. Sensory play through exploring the colored water and foraged loose parts with their senses is engaging and helps encourage exploration of science, language, color theory, and natural materials. 2. Pumpkin STEM: This STEM invitation lets children build and balance materials through open ended exploration with pumpkins! With plastic cups, cds, paper rolls, spools, rollers, and pumpkins the children were invited to stretch their thinking by introducing the engineering and design process. In the early years a child's work is to constantly problem solve through play. This invitation is a perfect opportunity to challenge a building experience to think and create in new ways with out of the norm materials. Since there is no wrong or right way to do this invitation, the possibilities were endless. When a child is left to create and explore, it stretches their problem-solving skills by all the ways they have to figure out how to balance the materials. Through all these trials, the children were able to analyze the situation more critically and come up with solutions in their own way. STEM subliminally provides awesome real life lessons that are so valuable and enriching to a child and through these images we get a window into the glimpse of mastering a new skill. 3. Pumpkin Washing: With water, soap, sponges, towels, whacky tools & pumpkins/gourds the children were invited to scrub a dub dub and feel the different sizes/shapes/weights/textures through sensory play & doing a practical life activity.  By providing opportunities where children can practice practical life skills like washing, it is not only an important activity for young children, it is so much fun. These sorts of invitations are letting the child subliminally without any pressure go through a series of steps at their developmental level and timeline to build skill sets they will need later on in life. Practical life activities help instill care of their environment, great for developing order, concentration, coordination, organization, control, ability to follow directions, and independence in hygiene and cleanliness. Washing anything really is as enticing and attractive. The child is instantly engaged and focused because they love anything that a) involves water b) something they are noticing in the world around them lately (pumpkin patches) c) it is totally out of the norm d) it empowers them to feel capable, independent, and proud of doing something they see adults do (cleaning) e) and it is sensory filled, which is the best way children learn!

Art involving nature can display the beauty of the natural world around us, let children make their own scientific observations in an environment, or open a child's minds to be creative, full of imagination all while providing the freedom of expression through art. To set this invitation we foraged a variety of branches with leaves on them and some without, stuck them into a playdough base, & provided Colorations tempera paint + brushes + 6 paint jar strips from Discount School Supply. The children were invited to paint, explore, and create 3-D Fall Leaf Sculptures.  Working with nature elements is a hands-on sensory experience. Children get to touch, feel, and explore the different textures, shapes, and colours found in nature as they create on a 3-D canvas. Using natural elements in art is a fantastic way for developing those fine motor skills. Children have to manipulate and work with leaves and twigs delicately which improves their hand-eye coordination and finger dexterity. Using natural elements in art can have a soothing effect on children. It can help reduce stress, anxiety, and restlessness, almost like a therapeutic outlet that allows them to express themselves and explore/process their emotions. Sparking creativity & imagination, providing a sensory rich experience, connecting children with nature & environments, developing fine motor skills, promoting emotional well-being, exploring science & math is a win-win process for the children to experience all through the magic of art!

When children experience environments, see movies, read books, spark an interest in a subject matter, or engage in imaginary play, being able to provide an environment with their current curiosities or something they may not yet seen can honor rich meaningful play. Play comes in all different forms, and our core memories are associated with play that was meaningful and wondrous to us. Whether a child is already interested in a subject like dinosaurs, space, or in this case we are providing exposure to what a fall forest filled with animals would look like, the magic of small world play can truly bring anything to their level.  To set up this Fall Forest Small World Play in our Discount School Supply Tuff Tray I natural wooden blocks, moss, mushrooms, trees, fall leaves, forest animal figurines, acorns, and pine cones. The children were invited to build and create their very own fall forest. Exploring these materials through open-ended play is a great way for extending literacy, language, imaginary & sensory play. Through this play they can reenact what they see/hear in stories, movies, shows, experiences, & environments around them to deepen their understanding of the world. This type of play can be defined as where children accept and assign roles, then act them out. When children engage in this type of play they break through the walls of reality, use their imagination, pretend to be someone or something different from themselves, explore different worlds, & have actions to go along with the roles they have chosen to play. Childhood can quite possibly be some of the most magical years with such fun experiences like creating their own fall forest, so why not spread more magic with PLAY and create memories that will stay with a child forever!

It’s #soupseason & what better way to kick of fall by inviting little ones to create any type of sensory soup. With the weather being beautiful & the excitement of learning about fall, we invited the children to make their own fall soup with foraged fall foliage leaves (green, yellow, orange, red, brown), pine cones, cinnamon sticks, puka pods, cinnamon spiced, twigs, water colored with @colorations.artoflearning liquid water colors from @discountschoolsupply, pots, bowls, & cooking utensils, to create some yummy fall soup! When a child is adding, scooping, pouring, transferring and stirring ingredients it fosters creativity and enables children to experiment with science and math concepts. Children begin to understand and investigate with ideas such as more/less, same/different, many/few, empty/full, before/after, greater than/less than. Children also learn physics principles such as the effects of force (increasing the waterflow through increased force); effects of gravity (water runs downhill) etc. The social learnings from creating soup together include collaboration, concentration, turn taking, problem solving, perseverance, self-regulation, and more. Children also gain physical learning through precision in pouring and eye-hand coordination. Sensory play through exploring the colored water and foraged loose parts with their senses is engaging and helps encourage exploration of science, language, color theory, and natural materials.

Since fall has been unfolding all around us the children have been noticing changes in the leaves due to the seasons shifting from summer to fall. We have been reading books and talking about why leaves change colors and the science behind it.  Leaves change colors during the fall, because of changes in the length of daylight and changes in temperature, the leaves stop their food-making process. The chlorophyll breaks down, the green color disappears, and the yellow to orange colors become visible and give the leaves part of their fall splendor. Today we invited the children to explore the different colors of leaves through creating their own fall foliage tree. We placed forage branches on our tuff tray and then taped down cotton pads as leaves. We provided Colorations Liquid Watercolors as the leaves and invited the children to dropper paint them with a pipette. Using the pipette to draw the liquid watercolors will not only enhance their fine motor skills as well as hand-eye coordination, it will let them explore color theory through mixing colors. When stating and observing what colors they are using this naturally boosts their recognition and the names of the colors. When children explore & engage in open ended art combined with nature, their experience is further testing possibilities, creating, and working through understanding the world around them. Much like a scientist who experiments and finds solutions, hands-on experiences allow children to make their own assessments, while also teaching them that there are so many layers in the world around them. The child’s brain becomes engaged in the discovery of “how” and “why," when we let them connect with what is directly happening in the world around them.

National Hispanic and Latinx Heritage Month is a period from September 15 to October 15 in the United States for recognizing the contributions and influence of Hispanic Americans to the history, culture, and achievements of the United States. Considered the greatest Mexican painter of the twentieth century, Diego Rivera had a profound effect on the international art world. Among his many contributions, Rivera is credited with the reintroduction of fresco painting into modern art and architecture. Educating children from a young age about the many different artists of the world and how it has shaped cultures worldwide, provides for concrete learning experiences that permit children to build an understanding that will impact their learning, attitudes & beliefs about diversity, multicultural education, and the arts. After reading stories about Diego Rivera, we set out examples of his various Calla Lily paintings.  Diego inspired the association of the calla lily with not only rebirth and growth but also revolution for the native Mexican Communities. We provided Construction Paper, Paint + Brushes, paint swatches, and calla lilies. The children were invited to observe, explore, and paint their own versions of the flower.  A still life is a drawing or a painting of an object or a group of objects that is close to you and doesn't move. This was a wonderful way for the children to observe every detail in the flowers & images, compare similarities/differences, & become more aware of details. These types of invitations to paint are amazing because it's interesting to observe each child's individual approach & creativity blossom. The simple joys of painting lets the children be engulfed in being present, creative, & engaged. Children who paint learn to think with an open mind, to look at situations creatively. Because there is no right way in the arts, children who paint can be proud to be unique and to express their artistic style.

Drawing a child's attention to their five senses(  hearing, sight, smell, taste, + touch) by reading stories, discussing them, creating interactive experiences, not only increases their awareness of them, it helps shape their understanding about the world around them. After reading several books about each sense and gaining some insight on how the human body observes and interprets the world, we set out to explore 5 invitations.  1. Pop Rock Painting: This invitation explored hearing. We invited the children to paint thick layers of paint, then sprinkle some pop rocks on the paint and use their ears to listen to the snap, crackle, and pop!  2. Blindfold Painting: This invitation explored sight. We invited the children to place a blindfold, and feel what it is to lose their sight while they paint, followed by letting them see to experience the difference.  3. Smelly Painting: This invitation explored smells. We invited the children to paint with smelly paint. The paint was mixed with different spices (pepper, cinnamon, paprika, onion, cayenne)  4.Tactile Board: This invitation explored touch. We invited the children to touch all the various tex tures on the board with their hands.  5. Sweet, Sour, Salty Taste Test: This invitation explored taste. We invited the children to do a taste test of Sweet (gummy), Sour (lemon), Salty (popcorn).

The Social Emotional Learning (SEL) aspect of a child is the foundation that supports all areas of development. The stronger awareness & support a child is provided, the more equipped the child will be to navigate their growth in all aspects of their life. SEL development heavily affects & influences the child, therefore providing & using as many tools as possible early on will only benefit the children in an impactful way.  Young children acquire  SEL competencies in ways that are often different from how they acquire competence in the naming of letters or numbers. SEL skills emerge through children’s experience in close relationships & the var­ied exposures that occur in relational experience, such as shared conversa­tion, warm nurturance, & intentional guided learning capacities for sociability, responsibility, & self- control. Just as with anything in the learning process of a child, the more you provide language + literacy along with hands-on experiences that explore SEL, the stronger the foundation is established for the child. This month we have been exploring emotions & feelings. The Color Monster by Anna Llenas is a book that associates colors with emotions in a way that is easy for young children to process & understand. 1.  Jumbled Up Feelings Marble Painting// We set out trays with a monster as a canvas, all the paint colors associated with the mixed up emotions the monster feels in the beginning of the story, & marbles to paint what mixed up feelings look like. 2. Invitation to Sort Our Feelings: We set out a tuff tray with a whole bunch of colorful loose parts, empty clear jars, & cut outs of each emotion in color from the book. We asked each child to communicate what they were feeling today, then sort through the jumbled up colorful loose parts, pick the color, & sort it in the emotion jar just like the book. 3.Invitation to Create a Playdough Color Monster: We provided playdough in all the colors of the  emotions  angry(red), happy(yellow), calm(green), sad(blue), scared (black), & love (pink). The children were invited to create their very own Color Monster with the playdough & loose parts.

Since we have started to explore all things fall, apples and pumpkins are abundant in autumn. After talking about what is harvested in fall we set out two invitations to create, make, explore, and play with apples and pumpkins through two types of sensory play. Whether they made pie, soup, cupcakes, cookies, pasta, they were invited to create anything fall!  1. Apples Galore:  In our tuff tray we filled the base with oats and provided cinnamon spice and sticks, kitchen utensils, pie tins, and green and red play apples.  2. Pumpkins Galore:  This invitation was set with real & fake pumpkins, playdough, loose parts: cinnamon sticks, puka spice pumpkins, wooden cutouts of leaves + pumpkins. Lastly, an array of pie tins & wooden tools to roll and mold the play-dough. When children sensory play, they are playing with a variety of materials and textures which stimulate the mind & body through the tactile experience. Children learn best and retain the most information when they engage their senses through hands-on exploration. Many of our favorite memories are associated with one or more of our senses and sensory play quite simply stimulates the senses. By giving children the opportunity to investigate and explore materials through open ended invitations we are giving them the time + developmentally appropriate space/materials to help them develop and refine their cognitive, SEL, physical (fine/gross motor skills), creative, and linguistic skill sets all through the power of play.

Wassily Kandinsky was a Russian painter and art theorist. Many of Kandinsky's paintings can be viewed as a perfect exercise in abstract painting. He focused all his attention on aspects such as colors and masses and their relative position on the canvas which determine the composition. Kandinsky’s paintings used color to show emotions rather than painting an object to look real. He believed each color has its own language and soul. Introducing young children to Kandinsky’s abstract artwork encourages them to see that art is created in many ways.  After reading stories about Kandinsky throughout the week, and looking at the actual image of his art we invited the children to create their own collaborative renditions of his art in three different ways.  Squares with Concentric Circles: We provided coffee filters in small, medium, and large sizes. Gave them Learning Resources twisty droppers to draw Colorations Liquid Watercolors in order to paint the coffee filters. After everything dried we layered the circles just like Kandinsky.   Abstract Light Table Art with Loose Parts: We provided lots of acrylic loose parts in different shapes, sizes, and colors. The children were invited to create on the light table.  Several Circles Collaborative Collage: We provided recycled bottle caps, stickers, glue, and thick black poster paper. The children were invited to create and collage together.   "Colour is the keyboard, the eyes are the hammers, the soul is the piano with many strings. The artist is the hand which plays, touching one key or another, to cause vibrations in the soul" -Wassily Kandinsky

Piet Mondrian is one of our artists of the month. He was a Dutch painter and his style consisted of geometric shapes and primary colors. He believed every shape can be created from the basic geometric shapes and every color can be created from the primaries - red, yellow and blue. We have been reading books about him, looking at his actual artwork, and creating our own renditions of his art. Here are two invitations: 1. Invitation to Explore Geometric Shapes & Primary Colors// Through this invitation they were able explore patterns, shapes, spatial awareness, primary colors, quadrilateral figures, and more. We provided Picasso Tiles in red, yellow, and blue. Placed electrical tape on the table and invited the children to create their  own rendition of Mondrian's art. 2. Piet Mondrian Small 3-D Abstract Art: The children were invited to learn about patterns, primary colors that yield other colors when mixed, and learning about quadrilateral figures. We wrapped recycled boxes with white paper & placed black electric tape to create his quadrilateral figures. The children were provided with primary color Colorations®  Tempera Paints + paint brushes from Discount School Supply . The children were invited to paint! Invitations such as these open a child's mind to the many ways of creating art. When children learn about diverse types of art the more well rounded and creative they become. Art is a fundamental component of early childhood education therefore continuous exposure leads to seeing the world in different ways and learning about all the beautiful forms of art. Opportunities for creativity reinforces the children's ability to engage with the world in new and novel ways, which promotes inquiry, reflection and critical-thinking skills.

It's the perfect time of year where classrooms are being redone to enhance the play spaces for the upcoming new school year. Children's Factory #gifted the  Angeles Wooden 4-Piece Kitchen Set: Stove, Sink, Fridge & Hutch just at the right time as we are sprucing up all of our centers. This set has been the perfect addition in one of our classrooms! Play, however it may be, should be the primary focus of a child's day in the early years. Since dramatic/pretend play is such a beneficial and crucial part of early childhood development, spaces that truly honor play with the needs of and development of children can only lead to imaginations soaring and limitless possibilities.  Play is critical to a child's emotional, social, physical, and cognitive development during the most formative years (0-5) when most of their brain development occurs. Research has found the executive function of the brain develops through dramatic/pretend play and this significantly aids in so much of their success in learning later on in their journey.  In this space the children will become whoever they want to be, create freely, explore curiosity, imagine wildly, mirror preciously, collaborate creatively, and DO whatever ignites their play. After all, "Play is the work of children," Jean Piaget.