(video by Evangelia Nteka, teacher in toddlers class in Athens)
sensory play
Hula hoops for babies
Hula hoops turn into an excellent type of sensory play in babies’ class!
(by Maria Gryllaki, teacher in babies class in Athens)
Finding a new use for tin cans!
Toddlers playing in the yard by inventing new use for tin cans!
Wow!
A favorite habit of our babies lately is to look themselves in the mirror. They make faces, cry and observe their bodies with pride. They talk or laugh, watch that and get excited.
That kind of sensory play assists babies to begin forming a positive connection with themselves.
So, in order to further develop our sense of self-awareness, but also boost our confidence, we put on some color in our faces and we all looked in the mirror!
And as Marina said, “Wow”!!!
(by Maria Gryllaki, teacher in babies class in Athens)
Like a good rock band
Babies discovered plenty of empty tomato cans in our yard and decided to create noise!
Used various toys and a paint brush as drum sticks….
They even composed a song. And after finishing their show, like a good rock band, packed instruments into the car and drove away….
(by Anastasia Kouroubali, teacher in babies’ class in Athens)
Hanging a paper tape in babies’ class
I hanged the paper tape over babies’ heads and they instantly started to experiment with it.
Stretched their body in order to reach the tape, touched it, twisted it and eventually, as were trying to play with it, they improved their movement.
And beyond that: discovered one more tool to communicate each other!
(by Anastasia Kouroubali, teacher in babies class in Athens)
Babies play the melodica
In our babies class, we love to sing and play the melodica. Children get excited on music and show great interest in this specific musical instrument and the sound it produces.
Today, after singing our song, they played the melodica themselves. And the result? Spectacular! Just like young musicians, the blew the instrument and pushed the buttons. Some even managed to produce a nice sound!
As a result of this playing, attention and memory of children was stimulated and practiced their control and coordination skills.
But most of all, this experience provided children with the ability to express themselves and have fun! Music is always an excellent tool for babies to discover the world.
(by Maria Gryllaki, teacher in babies’ class, in Athens)
A swimming pool for toddlers in school
(by Jenny Diamantopoulou, teacher in toddlers’ class, in Athens)
Foot sensing in toddlers’ class
Toddlers love to explore with their body and try their senses.
It’s time in class to explore by using our feet. Sο, we take our shoes off, by ourselves, though we are still two y.o., and the trip begins….
We walk barefoot on cloth, on sand and on the wooden floor…
Eventually, we step on paint and left our footprint on paper.
Everyone loves it!
(by Evangelia Nteka, teacher in toddlers’ class in Athens)
Sensory play with jelly
Today in babies’ class we made jelly – but instead of eating, we played with it!
Babies first look, then smell, touch and finally mix it…
Eventually, they become experts into mixing colors, without even knowing.
It’s just play for them!
(by Anastasia Kouroubali, teacher in babies’ class in Athens)
Life-derived Learning 