AFC PINE PM

  Happy last day before break! Because these kids work so hard day in and day out, we decided to take it pretty easy and spend the last half of our day eating cookies and watching a movie. It was a great afternoon full of excitement for the upcoming holiday break.  Have a great break and stay safe! I also want to say THANK YOU for making me feel extra special before seeing y'all again in the new year 😊

  Our day started out with a special treat by the fire, s'mores! Not everyone is a big fan of the combination, but still enjoyed roasting some marshmallows by the fire. It was the perfect way to enjoy the cold weather and spend some time with friends. Can't wait to hang out in our PJs tomorrow! 

  This afternoon we took the opportunity to play some different games within the fort the kids help build. The best part about the fort for these guys is typically being able to use the flashlight, but today that only lasted for a few minutes before they wanted the whole fort lit up!  L thought that if we used the overhead projector as a light, everyone would be able to see! It was a great idea! From there, the kids weren't really sure what to do. We came up with a short list of ways we could play in the fort until they finally landed on puzzles This was by far the calmest part of our day... Who knew building a fort would get everyone that excited! Can't wait to make s'mores tomorrow! 

 This afternoon we got in the spirit of the the cold winter weather and made some snowflakes! Some friends chose to make some snowflakes using different loose materials while another friend chose to make a movie about a snowstorm! Everyone was so focused on what they were doing, sharing materials, and chatting about their experiences in the snow!  "I need glitter! Snow is sparkly!" "Pink glitter! SnoOoooOw!" "I never seen green snow before, but I want green sparkles. I want blue and red too! That would be cool to have blue snow!" "This is the snow! It's a big storm and the kids have to hide. There's a monster coming too!" The rest of the week we will be spending our time enjoying the week before break and experiencing cold weather. Looking forward to making some forts tomorrow!

  Another great afternoon in the Pine room! The kids have really taken to their movie ideas and have started creating stories through drawings. All week they have been contributing to the same pictures and elaborating on what kind of movie they want to make. Today, O & J took the time to explain a little bit about what is happening in their movie. The audio is a bit difficult to hear because of background noise and muffled voices through the masks.  O explains that she drew some rainbows that are happy and sad. She really wanted me to know that the little green guy she drew was a frog and NOT a person. O wasn't too sure of her story line yet, but made her best effort to describe her picture.  J also provided some insight on what was happening in his movie. Monsters were attacking the city! All of the kids had to get together and run away from the monster. He too made some really great drawings and was able to explain every piece.  Looking forward to what the kids...

  Since Monday when the kids have expressed more interest about movies, they have really started to become quite the drawers. Every day this week every child has approached the white board with a marker in hand ready to create something new. Today, all of them were lined up at the board contributing to the "movie."  Most of their drawings consisted of robots or monsters, but they were quite different from one another. They all took most of the arrival time to create pictures unlike any other and used all kinds language to describe what their monsters and robots were going to do.    "Look, I drew a robot! He is big and scary!" "Robot with eyes, nose, and legs!" "My monster is going to eat all of the monsters!" "I have a purple monster! He's scary!" As we move into this new found interest in creating movies, I am looking forward to the story boards they will create in the coming weeks. 

  While exploring the forest today, L & F noticed something peculiar in one of the logs. "Hey! Look there's some metal in here! What?! How did it get here?"  F came over and took a closer look.  F & L pulled and pulled on the bolt and chain.  "Heavy!" F yelled as he tried to take it out.  "It is too hard to get out!" L agreed.  F turned around and started back up the log, but quickly stopped.  "Look!" he shouted and pointed to another bolt stuck in the log!  "How did these get here?!" L asked    F shrugged and wasn't sure how they got there either. L talked himself through it.  "I think that a crane came here and dropped this here! Or maybe some construction guys came and drilled them here. Maybe aliens dropped it here. They might have done it too. The metal came from the sky maybe?"  L made many predictions on where the metal pieces that were jetting out of the log. It's funny to see them just notice this ...

  Back on set in the Pine room, L spent the first part of his day creating a movie with the overhead projector. L had a very specific plan in mind. He first studied the projector and angled the mirror just right.  L then began to adjust the height of the mirror, stood back, and seemed satisfied with how it all looked. He walked over to the whiteboard and picked up a marker. L then very purposefully began drawing pictures of people.  "This is going to be mom, dad, and the kid. The movie is about the holidays!"  O peeked over from the other table and was intrigued by the drawing and helped herself to a marker too.  "I want to draw the movie too!" O stood back and admired her work.  "It's a duck! It's their pet." "Oh yeah," L responded, "It's a mom, a dad, a kid, and a duck!" By the end of our time before meeting, all of the kids had contributed to the "movie." They added all kinds of details and focused on their draw...