Observation: Week #3

~This week's observation was different, but really fun. The children seemed extra quiet and well behaved. After circle time, the children were seperated into different group centers. The centers were either water colors, trains/blocks/manipulatives, Bloom + Grow People (helped water, measure, draw the plants), or making muffins. While I observed the children making the muffins, I also took a walk out side to see the children observing the growth of the plants with the magnafy glasses and helping the teacher measure the growth. Then they took a clipboard and drew what they saw.
Inside at the muffin making table, the teacher's aid helped the children pour the muffin mix, measure the oil, and the ingredients. Next, they went over to the table and helped oil the muffin tins. They were then baked while the children continued to play. During snack time, the children were offered to try the muffins; most said yes and enjoyed them. ~

~This activity let the children observe the science of cooking, sharing and taking turns pouring the ingredients, using small motor skills and hand-eye coordination while mixing the ingredients in the bowl. Just in this activity there were many developmental learning objectives that were going on. It's rare to see cooking going on in a classroom these day, so when it happens it is like a special treat and the children really enjoy it.~

~An activity that I would plan to further the education of these same skills would be another hand-eye coorination activity because not many lesson plans focus on this. It would consist of passing ball back and forth in a relay with a group. The materials would be simple, mostly just a ball, but if it was made into a big obsticle course, we would need cones and any other materials for what activities were involved. This activity would give the children also the experience of taking turns. *I wonder what next week will look like and what activities would be offered*~