Carolyn’s

Play House Highlights

June 2002

More News!

Here it is June and Carolyn’s Play House is moving right along. So far we know our brand new member, Sean, likes peek-a-boo, playing with balloons and beach balls, and is a gentle soul who loves to be cuddled (how nice for us!). Sky is now crawling, babbling up a storm and is quite at home. Audra loves to hold his bottle for him; he in turn gently pats her head. He imitates her tapping on the wall and laughs and laughs as she does it again and again. And Laila, another of our newest additions, enchants the children with her friendliness and sweet laughter as they play hide-and-seek. The children now know our routines including clean-up, hand washing (combined with water play of course), sitting down for snack and lunch, and the songs that go with them.

Some of Our Favorite Things

Sky likes to hold the Happy Birthday balloons and watch them rise and fall as he pulls the ribbon; and turn all sizes and shapes of wheels whenever and wherever he can. He likes going wherever the other children go and is a great audience for all our silliness.

Eli likes the back-and-forth of conversation. He draws, gives you a crayon, inviting you to draw too. Or hands you the Pooh figure, talks about his eyes and nose, takes it back to play with, gives it back, over and over; all with a constant flow of his own enchanting language. He has his favorite big ball – the one with the giraffes – and likes to talk about what he sees on it.

Micah loves his cars and trains. He quietly takes anything on wheels from the playroom to his favorite place -- the couch in the living room -- and happily moves them back and forth for a long time, independent, not a care in the world. Or he and Eli will stand on the couch and look at cars together. And his whole face lights up when we get to the ‘fish store’ (our name for the pet store)!

Mekhi sprays out the window with his sprayer and make drops of water and has great fun smashing them with his finger! He likes to have ideas. One day he used the toy vacuum cleaner as a bridge for his car and, delighted, showed me his invention. And of course playing the drums and transforming all manner of things into musical instruments.

Laila loves other children. She gives them toys (only sometimes taking them back!), hugs, and plays happily with and around them with scarves and strollers and crayons and balls. She likes to be quietly held once in a while. And is drawn to the piano – her favorite spot as her mom leaves for the day.

Audra likes to be a ballerina with her scarf, try on all kinds of hats (and everyone’s shoes!), stand behind her friends and gently touch their shoulders. She takes her job very seriously – making sense of words and others and her world – what is big and what is little, what is heavy and light, who got scared of what.

Ben jumps on the living room cushions being every kind of flying animal, then is a bear climbing on rocks and gets ‘stuck’. On our walks he takes his sprayer and waters the neighborhood flowers (and has been known to wash a car or two!). At 3 -½ his imagination takes him to worlds all his own; breathtaking to watch.

Songs and Stuff

Seems like we are always singing. Sometimes on the way to the park I will sing a tune without words (‘la, la, la’, etc.) and pretty soon Laila, Mekhi and Audra are all singing ‘la, la, la’s’ of their own. Such smiles on people’s faces as we pass!

Now at music time Eli, Mekhi, Audra, Laila and I hold hands, walk in a circle, under each others’ arms, move all the way in and out, go this way and that way, and round and round Sky! As we move we say all the words – “in”, “out”, “under”, etc.

When we play our favorite music tape Eli leads us in hearty clapping and yea’s at the end of each song.

Or I will play on the guitar our version of ‘Skip to my Lou’ (‘Jump to my Lou’) and we imitate each other’s movements (‘Jump like Mekhi, why don’t you?’), etc.

Micah and Eli now watch carefully and imitate hand motions in songs. Audra and Mekhi imitate hand motions and words, too. Sky now stands and bops!

Fun and Games

One day we played this game: Mekhi, Laila and Audra all had two ‘dot’ paint sticks. We all made dots (saying ‘dot, dot, dot’ of course) and then each gave a paint stick to the person next to them, painted again, gave away one paint stick, until each had their original two colors. When the circle was complete we all clapped. It seems giving can sometimes be fun!

Another day on the living room floor I spread out a big plastic cloth, we took our sprayers and made ‘puddles’ in the creases, I rolled up pants and we all splashed!

Senses

The children pour glue, spread it with a brush, choose colors and shapes of papers and other materials to press. Later they touch the glue again, now shiny and hard. On our walks they listen the wind and to the silence when it stops, see the green tent of leaves at Riverside Park, touch favorite bushes, listen to the loud sounds of city things being fixed. As they play the piano and keyboard (big favorites) I sing the same notes they play, talk about which notes are high and low; sometimes we make sounds of birds and thunder and rain with the keys. They enjoy the loud sound of the crayons making dots on paper and the crinkly sound of balloons. They watch all the fishes swim back and forth and back at home imitate their movements in dance.

Playing and Learning

When Sean smiles and coos back and forth with a special adult, he learns he can make people respond and he is lovable. As he ventures beyond his family he learns of friendly faces. Micah imitates the actions of other children and learns that he is one of them and can do things other people do. As Sky pushes a ball back and forth with another, he learns it’s more fun to be with others than by him self. Mekhi, creating bridges for his cars, learns that he is a smart person with good ideas. Eli balances the toy telephone and stacking blocks and sits back with pride and pleasure, inviting you to share in his victory. He learns that he can make exciting things happen. As Laila plays the piano and keyboard she learns that things make all different kinds of noises. Audra takes a bag and goes ‘shoppin’, tells you to ‘wait’ and will be ‘right back’. Ben makes a zoo for his animals, building them a special place to be quiet and hide. In play they reflect on what they know about the world.

As we encourage children to watch others’ faces to tell if they have made them happy or sad, we help them learn cause and effect. They see that sometimes others want to hold hands, or be hugged, and sometimes they don’t. They learn that others have feelings and desires just as they do.

When we watch children we learn that there are many ways to explore the world – and they will find the most interesting ones if we let them. If we listen, we hear all their great ideas. And if we observe closely, we see the happier they are, the more they learn, and know this will be true all their lives.