(video by Claire Hadjinicolaou, English teacher in Athens)
Creating sensory bags in babies’ class
Babies enjoy playing with small pasta pieces, at the sensory table. However, they thought that the light yellow color of the pasta is a little dull and wanted to change it. But the question was, “how”?
First, we picked our favorite liquid color and dropped it into little bags, together with the pasta pieces. To have a big success, we dropped a looooot of color!
Then, we shook the bags. Babies observed that pasta pieces soon started to disappear! Babies tried then to identify the new content of the bags, by using all their senses.
The colorful pasta bags were magically transformed into our new “sensory bags”! A new toy that we added in our class play equipment.
A toy, made by babies themselves!
(by Maria Gryllaki, teacher in babies’ class in Athens)
Cornelius Crick sent us a letter
Cornelius Crick, the famous detective of our favorite book, sent pre-K class a letter! He was informed about our talent in solving problems and finding answers to mysteries…
Cornelius’ first request was to get to know us better. He asked for our portraits.
Children drew them with pleasure! But, just a wall full of our portraits was not enough.
Kids also wanted to add their names under their own portrait.
So,we played a game after which each paper obtained the right name, on it! 
We are now ready for the next Cornelius Crick’ challenge…
(by Spyridoyla Patouna, teacher in pre-K class in Athens)
There is a ghost in our school…
There’s a ghost in our school that spooks us all!
We’re making a scarecrow to scare it away…..
Getting ready for Halloween!
(by Claire Hadjinikolaou, English teacher in Athens school)
Dorothy Snot sent us a postcard!
During the first days of school this year, children in pre-K class read the book “The disappearance of Dorothy Snot”, the book out of which our school was named of!
As the story was moving on, Dorothy started sending letters to the children. Green envelops began to appear in class, very often. Dorothy was asking for help and ideas.
In one of her letters, she sent us some photos of her last trips around the world and asked for our imagination: Was it possible for us to construct with those images by using toys and other materials?
Children thought of it, worked together, and responded to Dorothy’s request with great success!
(by Spyridoula Patouna, teacher in pre-K class in Athens)
Play in toddlers’ class
Play, is:
- Two painter balls in a box
- Building towers using glasses
- Meeting your friends under the table
- Wearing strange metal shoes
- Wiping the salt
- Playing music
- Inventing a way to reach the balloons up in the ceiling
- Spreading the clothes
- Talking with your best friend
- And after all these exhausting things, go to sleep!
Play is life. Children’s life.
(by Jenny Diamantopoulou, teacher in toddlers’ class in Athens)
There is no such think as free play?
(from the Ip-DiP magazine for the professionals of play)
When I grow up, I want to be a ……
If you want to be a doctor, first thing you have to do is to learn about the human body.
What’ s a better way than experimenting on your friends, during kindergarten English class?
Have their heart, ears, mouth, legs and arms checked!
(by Claire Hadjinikolaou, English teacher in Athens school)
Looking deeper
Drawing with cars is not just a fun activity for babies.
Looking deeper, someone realizes that through this activity babies interact one another, gain socialization skills, taste the car, throw it down to listen to the sound, and more….
We teachers, the only think to do is to observe all these different behaviors.
Just by evaluating children’ reaction in any activity, we learn so many thinks.
(by Anastasia Kouroubali, teacher in babies class, in Athens)
Life-derived Learning 