Polar Play

Last week we moved from exploring Penguins and the South Pole to polar bears and the Arctic.  Here are some of the activities we’ve done for Arctic.

  
       Sensory tables – one full of fake snow and other with rice.


                                   Small world play.

                     
 
                    A new fingerplay with stuffies to play it out.


  We built igloos at the art table using styrofoam bowls and packing peanuts.

                  
   
        While continuing to build our igloo a big polar bear moved in and
                   that provided an invitation to play inside.

    We added the pillows for comfort and now its a hide away for quieter play.
 
               Time to be alone with the bear or to make a fort.
      
This afternoon I added a blanket underneath and smaller pillows.  I’m not sure if we’ll add any more jugs to the top but will focus on making a bit more of a tunnel
                                       out the front.
        
               I like the coloured lids on the inside of the igloo.

We’re Building an Igloo

Have you seen blogs that show how to build an igloo using milk jugs?  Here is one from Little Giraffes Teaching Ideas that I thought would be manageable.  It only needs about 130 jugs.  I'm sure we could collect that many.
                       
So during December I started asking friends, teachers and families from
                     StrongStart to begin to save jugs.
                  
     Last week the jugs started to be delivered and we started building.
  We placed yarn on the floor to help make the round shape, it turned out more
                                           like a horseshoe.

   
We had to wait a couple of days before we had enough to add another row.  But in the meantime the children found other ways to enjoy the igloo.  The jugs work well as drums.
  
And trying to take them apart was a popular activity, as well as playing with the
                                               loose jugs.


Just gluing the jugs together wasn’t strong enough so I started wrapping each row with packing tape.   As the walls got higher the children explored the inside and continued playing with the loose jugs.


Four rows high and we’re ready to start the beginning of the roof.  I attached a board across the opening so the row will be a complete circle.  Lots of jugs arrived today and these boys are placing them around to see if there is enough for the whole row.
 
       Or maybe they were just emptying the box so they could play with it.

  

This is how it looked at the end of the day.  

About 60 more jugs should be enough.  

Stay tune.