Recapping our week at the Carnival!

Camp continued as we went Off to the Carnival!  

Here are a few snapshots of what happened.

From the Infant/Toddler Program:  The infant/toddler room might seem a little like a carnival most days, but this week the Moonbeams had extra carnival crazy-fun!  We dressed up in silly hats, coats, and shoes  as we explored how we looked in the mirrors, and moved our bodies like animals at the carnival.  The Moonbeams played bean bag toss games and ran, crawled, and rolled themselves silly in our obstacle courses. Our playground was beautified with colorful carnival paintings, lots of colorful water play with ducks, cups, and containers. Together the Moonbeams had a dance party to carnival music, explored in carnival tents and tunnels, and even practiced our balancing skills as we pretended to walk on a tight-rope!  Our infants and toddlers had the pleasure of listening to and singing with Ms. Angela as she played the piano for us, and we played along on our own instruments.  How fun that we were able to take  a “carnival wagon ride” on the buggies to see Peabody Ducks march and Oh My Gosh Josh! Perform too!

The week of, “Off to the Carnival”, was eventful, colorful, and musical, in the Milky Way classrooms.  The children practiced eye-hand coordination as they used brushes, paint, and marker daubers to decorate paper plate carnival masks. Mia chose to apply paint to her face and hands as well. We also made colorful carnival fans and paper hats and displayed them around the room. Our visit with Ms. Angela seemed to truly mesmerize the children as we sat gathered around her singing along to familiar songs. Luke M. seemed especially captivated by Ms. Angela as he watched her intently the entire time. Evan stood close by Ms. Angela and watched her hands move over the keyboard. The visit from the Peabody Ducks brought smiles to many of the children’s faces as it gave them a chance to see the birds up close. Ethan pointed and said “hi” over and over as we watched the ducks march down the red carpet. Lily’s eyes widened and she smiled brightly and said, “duckies, duckies.”We ended our week with water play and lots of sunshine. The children explored water from a sprinkler, small turtle-shaped tub, and a table filled with colored water. Cups and bottles were added to the area for filling and dumping. 

From the Garden to Table/Cooking Center:  The Shooting Stars facilitated campers in Table-to-Garden and cooking activities during Carnival Week. Campers got to make their own fresh squeezed lemonade with mint on Monday. On Tuesday, the children picked basil from the garden and help make fresh pesto which they ate on French bread. Finally, on Thursday the children watched popcorn pop and then got to eat it just like at the carnival: fresh and hot!

From the Science/Sensory:  This week of summer camp it was off to the carnival.  We made snow cones at out science and sensory station on Monday.   The children got to watch ice transform into small shavings and then we poured apple juice on their individual cones.  “Wow, this is really good,” some of the children said.  There was lots of excitement on the yard as the children got to eat popcorn, participate in ring toss, bean bag throwing as well as song and dance.  One of the books we read during the week was Ten Apples Up On Top!  The kids got to practice their counting skills as they read along with the book written by Theo LeSieg.

From the Art and Construction Center:  During the off to the Carnival Week, the art and construction center consisted of large recycled materials (large tubes, cardboard boxes,and foam board) that the children assembled with tape to create a large-scale carnival of their own. Children shared supplies such as scissors and tape, and came up with ideas for what the structure could be, such as: tunnels, slides, traps, stages, tents, tracks, and doors. There were many instances of collaboration and negotiation among the children, as well as creative use and manipulation of the materials. They built for two days, and unfortunately the rain took our work away. On the final day, we used small wooden blocks to test how many we can stack without losing balance.

From the Dramatic Play Center:  In the dramatic play center, we had several carnival games just like at a true carnival.  The children purchased and paid tickets to try their hand at balancing on a balance beam and tossing balls in the holes.  If they got three balls in they got an extra shot.  Also, there was a face painting station where the children chose what shapes and colors they wanted to become a clown.  And on water play day, the children again paid tickets to throw rings at “gold fish” or “dunk” a teacher at the dunk booth.