For this activity, we combined bamboo, rocks, and dirt to learn about panda bears!

By using these materials, we created habitats for our little creatures and learned a new word: omnivore!

Physiologically, giant pandas are carnivores — they are made to eat meat — but they prefer a vegetarian diet.

Herbivores are, by definition, anatomically suited to a plant-based diet.

The giant panda is no herbivore. He’s essentially a vegetarian, a carnivore that eats little meat.

Throughout the activity, your little explorers delighted in manipulating the materials, and providing the perfect home for their little panda bear.

Group projects (such this one) can help preschoolers develop a host of skills that are increasingly important in their budding development.

Properly structured, group projects can reinforce skills that are relevant to both group and individual work, including the ability to break complex tasks into parts and steps, refine understanding through discussion and explanation, and develop stronger communication skills.

Young children are constantly assessing the patterns in their worlds.

From how items fit together, to the similarities between objects in their environments, their awareness of logic and order compose a significant part of their play. To cultivate this, we used a variety of colored bears to create sequences!

Sequencing hosts an array of developmental benefits; it enables your little one to see how items are alike and different; it helps visual acuity; AND, it fosters critical thinking skills. This activity consisted of students matching bears to a diagram. Each diagram contained a missing item, and it was up to the student to determine what item it was. Through some trial and error, we enjoyed manipulating a variety of colorful bears, laughing and learning in the process!

Sensory painting is a great sensory art activity that appeals not only to the visual side of your child, but to his olfactory sense as well.

This kind of “sensory” art is so important for children,  giving them a way to examine, discover, categorize and make sense of the world around them.

For this activity, we painted brown bears with coffee grounds and white paint.

Using paint brushes, students “scooped” the coffee grounds and paint onto their papers, creating their very own brown bears!

The materials we choose to bring into our classroom reveal the choices we have made about knowledge and what we think is important to know. How children are invited to use the materials indicates the role they shall have in their learning. Materials are the text of early childhood classrooms.

Unlike books filled with facts and printed with words, materials are more like outlines. They offer openings and pathways by and through which children may enter the world of knowledge. Materials become the tools with which children give form to and express their understanding of the world and the meanings they have constructed.

It is for this reason that almost all of our thematic activities are hands-on. We often integrate manipulatives, story trays, and natural materials to help your little one gain an understanding of the theme of the week.

For this activity, we used toy creatures and pictures of different habitats to practice comparing and contrasting environments. Students were given four different pictures. One included a picture of a desert, another a picture of a jungle, another a picture of an arctic scene, and finally a picture of a savannah. Students were then invited to sort and place their creatures in the environment that their creature might prefer.

Polar Bears deposit most of their body fat into a thick layer of blubber – a layer of fat reinforced by fibrous connective tissue that lies just below the skin.

The blubber layer insulates the polar bear and streamlines its body. It also functions as an energy reserve.

Using rubber gloves, our hands, and ice water, we learned about how our polar bear friends stay warm in their cold environments!

We first dipped our hands into icy water, and talked about words associated with the cold, such as ice, chilly, frozen, icy, and snow!

We then talked about what blubber was, and compared it to a thick rubber glove. After that, we put on a rubber glove and dipped our hands again into the water.

Each child was then asked whether or not their hand felt warmer or colder with the glove on.

Lastly, we talked about other uses for blubber and why some animals need to protect themselves from the cold.

This activity allowed your adventurer to explore the concept of animal adaptations through investigation and application.