This past fall we noticed the that the toddlers were really interested in "Bear" books. Particularly "Bear Snores On" by Karma Wilson.
We are interested in following the children's lead in our room. What are they interested in and what does it seem like they want to learn about?
So we set up a forest corner for them to explore.
There was a furry cover on the pallet platform.
Stumps, tree cookies big and small and a cave.
A felted forest play mat with a variety of forest animals.
Rocks and pine cones.
My sister is an amazing photographer and I borrowed some of her nature pictures to tape to blocks. The toddlers carried them all over the room.
Our center doesn't promote Christmas so in keeping with our forest interest we added a Pine Tree for the toddlers to adorn as they wished. We thought that the Pine Tree will be able to evolve as the seasons do. The toddlers painted it themselves.
They each have a metal jar top with their own picture glued on they can hang on.
We provided laminated fall leaves, photographs of squirrels, owls and a stellar's jay.
As the weather changed a bit we added in snowflakes.
They also had loose parts like bracelets and shower rings to add.
In January after they had a chance to experience the snow and ice, we changed the corner to reflect the changes outside.
We added in adult sized mittens and toques.
We had a lot of interest in ice play for a while.
And now the corner has changed once again. We loaded it up with loose parts and the toddlers are enjoying it this way now.
Never a dull moment in the Toddler Room!
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