The Bakery is Open!

During the Gingerbread Man unit, we open a bakery where the children buy and sell bake goods they have made.  I use an old recipe from my childhood that my mother used to make bread dough ornaments.  It is really like a clay.  It is great fun and the children feel such ownership of the center!

Here's how.

Bread Dough Recipe

1 cup of flour
1/4 cup of salt
1/3 to 1/2 cup of hot tap water

Mix all the ingredients together in bowl.  Knead until smooth.  Add more flour if dough sticks to your fingers.  It should be smooth not too sticky.  This recipe will be enough for 3 to 5 children depending on how many things you would like them to make!

Bake for one hour in a 300 degree oven.  Let cool.


Special Paint Frosting Recipe
Acrylic paint (cheap variety in squeeze bottles)
Glue

Mix one part paint to one part glue.  Stir.  Use cheap paintbrushes like those found in watercolor boxes.

Special Sprinkles
Small seed beads
Different kinds of glitter

 

Some stores carry special edition glitters and sprinkles for art during the holidays.  Shhh - don't tell - they sell for 75% off after the holidays - and I stock up!

Paint frosting on baked bread dough.

Sprinkle goodies with glitters and such.  To preserve your baked goods for years of play - spray with clear acrylic sealer.   My family has bread dough ornaments that have lasted decades!  This recipe is great for making your own vegetables, fruit, pie . . . . for housekeeping play.  It has so much more warmth than plastic or wooden pretend food items - especially if the children help make them.

Gingerbread Playdough

Gingerbread Play-Dough

This is my favorite recipe for gingerbread play-dough.  It smells wonderful and provides the perfect play during our Gingerbread Boy unit.

1 cup flour
1/2 cup salt
1 Tb. cream of tartar
1 cup water
1 tsp. vegetable oil
Spices--Cinnamon, Allspice, Ginger, Nutmeg, Cloves
Use Green and Red food coloring to make the dough brown (I like Wilton's Brown Food Dye)

Directions:
1.  Mix the dry ingredients adding the spices until you get a good level of scent.
2.  Mix water and oil together and add them to the dry ingredients. Stir.
3.  In a pan, cook the mixture for three to five minutes on lowheat, stirring constantly.
4.  The dough will start to pull away from the sides of the pot and stick together in a large ball.  I like to push the dough out and flat and let it cook.  It will look like it is too sticky.  Let it cook a bit.  
5.  Take the dough out of the pan and knead the dough until it becomes smooth. (I like to mix it in my     Kitchen Aid with the bread hook.  I drop it in while it is still warm.  It makes it perfect!!!)
6.  Allow the dough to cool before using.  Store in an airtight container.

A Peek into a First Grade Classroom in Switzerland

Here is a little tour of a first grade classroom I visited in Switzerland.  There were so many great ideas.  Outside the classroom this sun greeted students with their names.  

This is the helper "chart" if you will.  I love this idea!

The Magical Alphabet chart!  I have made my own version of this.  Each letter has doors that were opened to reveal the letter.  

 

Here is a detail of those delightful "letter" windows!  I love how the children helped to create it.

Swiss first grade classroom - so well designed.  

• Peek back at the wonderful sink in the right hand corner.   
• Notice how the chalkboard is on a sliding track - it moves to reveal whiteboards and bulletin boards.   
• Also - check out the little zippered bags on the desk behind the girls.  These are school supply pouches that are masterfully crafted.  I wanted one but quickly found out in American $ it would cost nearly $75.  I regret not buying one!

 

Detail of the number line.  I love this and made my own.  Take a look at how they used natural occurring number images like spider for 8, bowling pins for 9 and so forth!  Do you see the grid on the chalkboard?  Oh how I love these details!

This is the left side of the classroom - huge open light windows looking out to a lush wooded area!

 This art mural by the students was on the right side wall.  Look at the wonderful birds they created.

Here is a close up of those adorable birds.  Do you see the great patterns the children painted?  I wonder if they made painted papers first and then constructed their birds. . . .
 

Age Appropriate Fairy Tales

 "Fairy tales strengthen the moral lives of children."

How do you determine which fairy tales are age appropriate?  A good gauge is by the way that the conflict (or "evil") is depicted and by the complexity of the tale.  Here is a basic guide:

Young Three Year Olds:
    little nature stories
    simple stories about daily life in the home and garden (these are many times "made-up" from daily life.)

Children under three years old do not just imitate, they explore.  They absorb every aspect of their environment - so stories about their daily life will meet their developmental needs.
   
Older Threes and Four Year Olds:  They love very simple, sequential stories!  If you are new to telling a fairy tale - these are simple to learn.  My kindergarteners still love these stories.
   The Giant Turnip
   Little Louse and Little Flea
   Goldilocks and the Three Bears
   The Mitten
   The Gingerbread Man
   Sweet Porridge

At this age, the child loves repetition!  They will repeat things over and over!  A story that has a repetitive nature is candy to their ears!  And in fact, is building auditory processing.

Four Year Olds and up: A little more complexity but not too much drama!
   The Billy Goats Gruff
   Stone Soup
   Little Red Hen
   The Elves and the Shoemaker
   The Three Little Pigs
   The Pancake Mill
   The Wolf and the Seven Kids
   Mashenka and the Bear

At four years old, the young child is now aware of conflict on a conscious level.  Stories with simple conflicts and easy resolutions delight their need for order in the universe!  Good wins!

Five Year Olds and up:  Stories can have more challenge with good and evil plus more detail!
   Star Money
   Little Red Riding Hood
   Rumplestilskin
   Jack and The Bean Stalk
   Hansel and Gretel
   Little Briar Rose
   The Golden Goose
 
Six Year Olds and up: Children at this age are now ready for characters that have suffering in their journey.
    Rapunzel
    Cinderella
    Mother Holle
    Bremen Town Musicians

This is by no means comprehensive but gives you a feeling for the kind of stories for each age.  

 

Storytelling - The Heart of My Teaching

Storytelling - The Heart of My Teaching from Fairy Dust Teaching on Vimeo.

Easy Gingerbread Dollhouse People

One of the classic tales for the holidays is the Gingerbread Boy.  I discovered that many Christmas Gingerbread people ornaments made perfect dollhouse figures.   There are always many different styles in the cloth ornaments.  They are soft and provide hours of enjoyment in dollhouse play.  I have also found doll-sized gingerbread men (we call them "babies") that are great fun to put in housekeeping.  

Watercolor Magic - Waxed Paper!

 

What you will need:  watercolor paper, watercolors, brushes and waxed paper.

Step One: Place a watercolor wash on the paper.

Step Two: While paint is still wet, cover it with the wax paper.  Experiment with moving the wax paper to create texture. 

Step Three:  Remove waxed paper after painting has dried.

Watercolor Magic - Salt!

 

Materials Needed:  watercolor paper, watercolors, brushes, and table salt.  You can use a variety of salts to see the effects like fresh ground salt, rock salt and coarse sea salt.

Step One: Apply a wash of color over the paper surface.

Step Two:  Sprinkle salt into the wet paint and let it dry completely.

Step Three: Brush off the salt.

Watercolor Magic - Rice!

Materials:  Rice, watercolor paper, watercolors.

Step One:  Lay a watercolor wash on the paper surface.

Step Two: While paint is still wet, drop rice on the paint and leave it there until dry. 

Step Three:  Brush off the rice.

Detail of texture

Watercolor Magic - Plastic Wrap!

Every winter I provide a special painted paper opportunity in my classroom.  During free choice the children can create the featured painted paper.  They make one for the community box and one for themselves.  We use a variety of colors and textures.  I am going to start with watercolor and share my favorites!  Everyday this week I will post a new technique!

What you will need:  plastic wrap, watercolor, watercolor paper, medium brush.  It is important to purchase actual watercolor paper.  Student grade is fine.  I also purchase pads of watercolor paper at Michael's on sale or with a coupon.  These techniques will not work on construction paper.  I like Stockmar Paints and the liquid concentrated watercolor sets.  The quality of color pigment is important as well.  I feel children deserve quality art supplies for a quality experience.

Step One:  Put a wash of color over the entire paper.  Do this quickly so it stays wet.

Step Two:  Place a piece of plastic wrap on top of the wet wash.  Squish the plastic to form creases.

  Leave the plastic wrap on top of the paint until it dries.

Step Three:  Pull off plastic wrap!

Close-up of some of the textures created.

Experiment with different colors and concentrations of pigment to see what kind of effects can be created!

Weaving Curriculum in Switzerland Kindergarten

The classroom I visited in Switzerland was a multi-age classroom.  There was a completion project before going on to first grade - a circular weaving made into a turtle.  This circular weaving was the shell of a felt turtle.

I noticed that the teacher provided several opportunities for weaving and circular weaving.  I loved this huge weaving in progress behind the block area:

 

There was this great idea for a large weaving space on a wall made with chicken wire.  I have made this for my classes before and they loved it!

 

Detail of chicken wire loom.

These are the circular looms in progress in the kindergarten for their turtles.

This is a graduating kindergartener sewing his circular weaving to the felt turtle form.  It was then stuffed.