Busy bodies and busy minds at the studio! *Number & Letter Projector Invitation* The light table is gone and a new machine has taken its place! The kiddos were very excited to explore our projector! The large letters and numbers sparked their interest in the beginning. R placed the letter "D" on the projector. F said, "That's in my name!" R responded by saying, "No, this is in your name" and placed the letter "F" on the projector. F replied, "They're both in my name!" The chi

*Number & Letter Projector Invitation* "What is this thing?" E excitedly asked as he came through the door. We introduced our new "machine" to our friends and explained that it is a projector for casting images onto our wall. The kiddos used large numbers, letters, popsicle sticks, and our fall manipulatives as tools to explore letter and number concepts. "I want to make a 'W'!" - W "'X' marks the spot! Hexagon doesn't." - E "What happens when I put my hat on it?" - W (Then r

Leaves, leaves, and more LEAVES! Our collection of leaves from our nature walks has provided us with a plethora of nature inspired activities! Gotta love free natural learning tools! :-) *Leaf Classification* Over the past couple of weeks we have been separating and labeling leaves according to their sizes. This week we continued our practice with colors. The kiddos sorted through a basket of leaves and taped them onto the paper with the coordinating color written on it. This

FALL IS HERE! Our exploration of the Autumn season has officially started! *Fall Floor Book* We welcomed the Autumn Equinox by brainstorming about what we know about Fall/Autumn. We talked about the colors of fall and what holidays we celebrate. We also practiced our balancing skills in honor of the equinox - a time when both the sun and moon share an equal time in the sky. *Leaf Hunt/Outdoor Park Play* After our Shadow Hunt last week, our friends wanted to go on another hunt

A new season brings new changes and new experiences! *Shadow Hunt* We went hunting for shadows on our nature walk! We read Lines That Wiggle before our walk which helped spark our hunt! Our friends enjoyed looking for different kinds of lines to trace. *Outdoor Creative Play* Thanks to the beautiful weather we have had a never-ending opportunity to explore invitations outdoors! Introducing liquid watercolors to our friends encouraged them to invent new colors. We delved furth

We have had a fun-filled two weeks! Together we have experimented in color mixing, caught shadows, found insects, and shared many laughs! Take a look at our busy days below! *Rain Cloud Painting* W & T thoroughly enjoyed painting the rain clouds together. They mixed the paints creating new colors and shades. "I'm making a cupcake! A sugar cupcake!" - T *Outdoor Creative Play* Our friends F & R spent time trying to get the water out of the wheel. They kept flipping over the ti

What a fantastic start to our Monday group! The past two weeks have been filled with laughs, questions, discussions, and walks! *Together Time* After we all have physically arrived at the studio, we take a little bit of time together in the morning to fully arrive as individuals who are ready to learn! We began writing in our Whole Child floor book by brainstorming about how we felt on our first day. *Outdoor Creative Play* We have been lucky to have BEAUTIFUL days to spend o

Today we kicked off our Whole Child Program with our Wednesday students! We couldn't be more excited to expand Side by Side Studio to include a nature preschool dedicated to child-led learning and exploration! For our first weeks together, we will be learning about ourselves and each other. We will work with reflections and faces - practicing self portraits and recognizing facial features. Our main focus will be to establish our little community and figure out what interests

After a week break, we are back in the swing of our summer camps! This week we have a tenacious group of ALL GIRLS! We are very excited to have a jam packed week full of art and learning about how we can love ourselves and each other! GIRL POWER!!! Day 1: *Mindful Morning* We began our week by discussing what being "mindful" means. Our campers brainstormed the following: "relaxing, being quiet, concentrating, closing our eyes, and poses!" Following our idea session, we practi

Another great day at the studio! Painting, beading, tying, observing,and learning all day! Day 3: *Together Time* We began our day our usual way with coming together as a group. We reviewed the day before and added comments and ideas to our book. Sketching plants that we noticed earlier while on our nature walk! Families will able to see our book during our mini art showcase! *Prism Catchers* Today we explored light and rainbows. We learned about prisms from our friend who ta