Wednesday, December 6th

All Kinds of Construction
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Yesterday, as children worked with clay, messages, and water testing, they gave us some important feedback:  they really wanted to have Construction as a choice.  Today, plenty of building opportunities were available.  
It started outside.  Recently, children have been "paving" race tracks with wood and wheelbarrows.  Today, Jay paved a circular path in the sand and said it was "Dupont Circle."  Cassius and Mac gladly helped him out, adding pipes to represent the fountain in the middle of the circle.  

The work continued after lunch.  Small, table top materials were available in one area of the room.  This structure was a home for sea animals.  Often as children build on a smaller scale, a story emerges.  Today was no exception.
   Lila - It's a family story.
   Vivienne - There's a crocodile and the crocodile is going to eat all the baby kids.  He's hungry for baby kids.
   Mac - (With the crocodile)  I'm eating.
   Ellee - Don't even think about it.  This is our house.
   Mac - (Putting the crocodile under a basket.)  He's in a cage.
   Vivienne - What happened to the crocodile?
   Ellee - The fish police put him in a cage.
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In the Construction area, white fabrics and materials were available as a provocation to create a wintery scene.  Not surprisingly, children thought about the North Pole.
    Cassius - Want to build Santa's Workshop?   Jay, Can I help you with yours?
    Jay - Sure, you can help me whenever you want.
    Cassius - We can add more things.
    Jay - These are two big buildings because I watched the North Pole and it had that.
    Carl - That's where Santa works with the elves.  (Building a chair)  The boss chair.  
    Cassius - I knew there was a boss chair.
    Jay - Because Santa is a boss.
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Of course, our day wouldn't be complete without working on some holiday messages.... and mandalas!