Celebrating Fay's 4th Birthday

1/10/2023

Interviewing Fay

Before the winter break, we celebrated Fay’s 4th birthday. To prepare for her special day and birthday gift, the birthday committee interviewed Fay to find out more about her and her interests.

Fay: I’ll only tell you my favorite color. Gray and green.
Ellie: What do you have at home?
Fay: I have trucks and an excavator. My favorite truck is the excavator.
Isabelle: What’s your favorite toy? What would you like for your gift?
Fay: An excavator. We have two doll houses and they only have dolls inside them. Me and coco we make them go on a trip with their bags. We keep asking mom if she can make a suitcase they only have like three bags.

"I have trucks and an excavator. My favorite truck is the excavator." - Fay

"You can only make me an excavator for my birthday. It’s my favorite truck. It scoops things and helps build a house." - Fay

Cal: What do you like to do?
Fay: Van sometimes gives me my excavator and tells me to move them upside down.
Fay: You can only make me an excavator for my birthday. It’s my favorite truck. It scoops things and helps build a house.
Ellie: What’s your favorite park?
Fay: The park that’s close to Coco’s school.
Isabelle: What’s your favorite swimming pool?
Fay: Coach Deer. We are going to ask my mom to go swim more.

Deciding on the Gift

Following the interview, the birthday committee discussed how they could incorporate Fay’s interests into her gift. Her love for excavators especially stood out to them.

What did Fay tell us about yesterday?
Isabelle: Excavators.

What do excavators do?
Ellie: Excavate on a road.
Isabelle: Scoop. Pick up things.

What should we make for Fay’s birthday gift?
Isabelle: An excavator!
Charlton: I have an excavator at home.
Seon: I also have an excavator. It digs very well but it’s kinda broken.

The children knew that Fay wanted an excavator, but through discussion about excavators they thought beyond the most obvious gift. They came to the conclusion that they would make her a construction site for her excavator at home.

Where does an excavator dig?
Cal: In the dirt and it’s got a big arm to build a house.
Isabelle: It digs and scoops.
Ellie: It’s scooping. It’s for construction.
Seon: The construction site.
Emma showed the birthday committee pictures of a construction site. What can we find at the construction site?
Seon: Different kinds of vehicles and I see some buildings.
Charlton: This kind of sand (pointing to the dirt).
Seon: We could make her something brown. A tiny little vehicle. Super tiny. Some dirt. It will be a pretend construction site.

Planning the Construction Site

The birthday committee began planning the construction site. They started with drawing blueprints of what it might look like after examining different images.

"It’s an excavator. That’s the scooper. A lot of dirt." - Ellie

How could we draw a construction site?
Seon: I’m going to use brown for the dirt.
Ellie: Yeah, I’m going to draw the dirt. Right, Seon? I’m still coloring. I not done.
Seon: I need yellow for the excavator. I did a great job drawing the excavator.
Ellie: I drawing all yellow and orange.
Ellie: It’s an excavator. That’s the scooper. A lot of dirt.

Ellie's Construction Site - First Draft

Ellie's Construction Site - Second Draft

Seon: I’m going to use green. I’m using my imagination that there’s plants. They grow where there’s a lot of dirt too.
Ellie: I can’t reach the blue (colored pencils). Let’s put it in the middle so we both can reach it.
Seon: I already draw the big rocks. Buildings too!
Ellie: I’m working on an excavator. I’m working on the scooper.
Ellie: All the dirt and the rocks.

Seon noticing the letters on the buildings in the construction site pictures: There must be M and H.
Seon drawing something on her building: This is my daddy looking out the window at the construction site.
Seon: I’m very working on the birthday committee because I want to do a very good job. Hmm maybe I’ll put some more plants. And some small trees too.
Seon: It’s the construction site. My daddy looks a little silly. That’s the excavator. I’m going to write the number one because this is my first drawing.

Seon's Construction Site - First Draft

Seon's Construction Site - Second Draft

Seon: A construction site is where a lot of heavy vehicles go and move around and they work very hard. Even at night. They’re trying to build a building. The cones are so the cars do not come in because it’s dangerous.
Seon: This is the rocks. This is the excavator. Dirt because the excavator can move around the dirt. That’s the number two because it’s my second drawing.

"An excavator works in the construction area. There’s dirt and tracks! The excavator makes the tracks. I want to draw the tracks." - Cal

Cal puts an excavator toy on his paper: Now the excavator can drive on it.

Cal's Construction Site with Excavator Tracks

Assembling the Materials

Using their blueprints, the birthday committee broke ground on the construction site using various materials such as rocks, small bricks, trees, pieces of metal and wood, crumpled paper, and dirt. They even created construction cones by rolling small round pieces of orange paper.

What do we find on a construction site?
Seon: Dirt. Some trees.
Isabelle: Dirt.
Cal: A lawnmower.
Seon: Outside there was a real life construction site. It was very big.
Cal picking up round pieces of wood and metal pieces from the provocation: Those are extra wheels in case the excavator broke these are the tools.

"You have some cones for safety. " - Seon

Cal: I’m gonna glue the dirt.
Ellie: Me too.
Seon: Just a little bit, Ellie.

Seon: She can move around the excavator on here. And if it gets broken she can use the tools. The trees are not stable. I hope Fay likes it.
What do you think she will like about it?
Seon: She can dig the dirt with her excavator.
Seon folding small orange paper: It’s a stick for construction or maybe a telescope for construction. I think it looks complete.
Mimi observing the birthday committee's work: It looks like a small world to play in.

The Finished Gift

The Celebration

Fay’s mom, Paige, and her dad, Pack brought in homemade banana bread with chocolate chips in for Fay’s birthday snack. It was baked with love with the help of Fay's little brother Van. The Rainey Room children and teachers loved the snack.

We then went over to the birthday blanket where Fay’s mom and dad read us two of Fay’s favorite books. The first was called Goodnight, Goodnight Construction Site by Sherri Duskey Rinker and the second was called Mermaid School by JoAnne Stewart Wetzel.