TGIF!!

We made good use of our time today at kindergarten as we finished up a few winter and polar animal activities so that we will be ready to jump right in to 100th Day and Valentine's Day next week.  Festival du Voyageur will follow, so it was now or never!!  We started with a penguin sort.  We learned about the 'manchot jugulaire' (Chinstrap penguin), the 'gorfou sauteur' (Rockhopper penguin), the 'manchot empereur' (Emperor penguin), and the 'manchot adélie' (Adelie penguin).  Here we are trying to find our penguin family.  Nineteen kindergartners waddling in all directions is pretty adorable.

Next we sorted our penguins. 

We also did a penguin directed drawing activity.  What a bunch of little artists!

As if that wasn't enough excitement, we started our Borax crystal science experiment.  We folded up pipe cleaners to make snowflakes.

Next, we submerged them in boiling water and Borax.  The kids helped with the measuring and mixing.  Hopefully they will be covered in beautiful crystals when we come back to school on Monday.

SmartBoard Fun

We did something WILD today.  We threw things at our SmartBoard!!  The kids loved playing this colour identification game that involved throwing koosh balls at animals.  If they hit their target, a colourful SPLAT appeared and they would have to name the colour in French.  We'll be playing this game with letters, numbers and words in the coming weeks.

New Welcome Work

We started our new baskets today.  The kids have really been enjoying these activities.  I like how they can touch on math, literacy, fine motor, logic and reasoning practice, and social skills.  Here are your cuties in action:

Matching Groundhogs to their Shadows

ABC Ordering (lowercase)

Race to Fill up a Cup

Valentine Number Lines

Stamping Words

Groundhog Day

Today we learned about Groundhog Day (Jour de la marmotte).  We are so excited that Winnipeg Willow predicted an early spring!

To celebrate, we made the cutest little groundhog puppets.  What a great start to February.

Polar Animal Sort

Today we learned a bit more about the differences between the animals of the North Pole and the animals of the South Pole.  We did an animal sort and learned some of their french names.

Welcome Work and Penguins

We started our new Welcome Work baskets.  They are such a fun way to target some of the skills that are so important to kindergarteners.  We also sang and read about penguins.  The kids are getting pretty good at their penguin waddles!

Mixed-Up Number Puzzles

Pokey Pins (the best fine motor activity EVER!)

Polar Animal Puzzles

Guess the Polar Animal Tracks

Snowball Number Mats (#7 to #12)

P is for Polar Bear

Today we welcomed Bonnie from the Assiniboine Park Zoo. She taught us all about polar bears in the wild and about our polar bear friends at the zoo. It was very interesting and neat to hear her personal stories about Hudson, Storm, Aurora, and Kaska. We touched polar bear and arctic fox fur, built polar bear habitats, and did an experiment using lard to recreate blubber. We also pretended we were polar bears who needed ice floes in order to hunt seals and fish. It was similar to musical chairs, but with an arctic twist! 

LEARNING ABOUT POLAR BEARS

BUILDING A POLAR BEAR HABITAT

(The penguins are there to trick the kids but it didn't work!  

We already know that penguins are NOT arctic animals.)

HOW POLAR BEARS STAY WARM: THE BLUBBER EXPERIMENT 

HUNTING ON ICE FLOES