Some times it takes just a balloon to keeps babies happy. Just hang it from the roof and let them play with it!
(by Anastasia Kouroubali, teacher in babies’ class in Athens)
Anastasia Kouroubali
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)
Bubbles in the water
Playing with water is babies’ favorite thing to do, especially during their first days in school…
To make it even better, we tried to add liquid soap into the water. Babies loved it!
They made waves in the water with their hands and suddenly, lots of bubbles popped up!
Bubbles we can touch & taste, even bubbles we can dress with!
(by Anastasia Kouroubali, teacher in babies’ class in Athens)
Marker-cars
Babies enjoy playing with cars or with anything else bearing wheels.
One day they found in class their favorite toy cars, having markers taped on their bumper! They also found a large paper roll on the table. Kids instantly took the cars and started drawing on paper!
By doing this, babies enjoyed playing but also improved their finger skills. Now, we maintain a permanent spot for this activity in class and our marker cars are always ready to take action!
(by Anastasia Kouroubali, 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)
The lady and the mechanic
Babies can do great things with just a taxi cab and a paint brush!
They instantly assign roles to themselves, no need to speak. The girl is the driver and the boy is the mechanic.
When job is done, he closes the door like a gentleman and waves goodbye!!
This is how no-talking babies communicate each other…
(by Anastasia Kouroubali, teacher in babies’ 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)
The healing water!
First days in school are always difficult, especially if you are a baby!
I suggest a small tip on how to help babies relax when they are stressed.
Use water. Just water. Or, water with small rocks, sand, plastic balls, toy ducks and anything else you can imagine.
When babies play with water, they relax and release all their stress.
I call it: «THE HEALLING WATER!»
(by Anastasia Kouroubali, teacher in babies’ class in Athens school)
Babies paint with colored ice cubes
Babies (1-2 y.o.) discover the world through their senses.
In our school, an activity they love doing is producing colored ice cubes.
Then, kids use those ice cubes to paint, while melting.
(by Anastasia Kouroubali, teacher in babies class, Athens)
Life-derived Learning 