Calming Corners- The Lake

Sometimes kids have big emotions or need a space to regain control of their bodies.  I have created a calming space.  Pictured here is a basket of calming activities and objects.

This is my calming corner.  I call it The Lake because it is more soothing to tell a child the "go to the lake" when they are having big feelings.

I've included sturdy board books in case hands are not gentle enough for paper pages.

I allow kids to use the lake on their own or at my determination depending on the situation.  

 

(Back) to Kindergarten, Here I come!

This school year I am excited to start a new adventure!  I am returning to Kindergarten to help create and outdoor immersion Kindergarten program!  Learning in and with nature is very beneficial to all students and I am looking forward to embracing inquiry and nature/outdoor based learning with my newest group of Kinders!  The following is a tour of my classroom.  Each Kindergarten room has a name and mine is the Owl Overlook.  OWL=Observe, Wonder, Learn.

This is my classroom library and story telling center.  The low table in the middle houses story telling scenes that will change monthly or more frequently depending on our subject of inquiry.  Right now it holds a puppet theatre and finger puppets (Peruvian made).  I made the puppet theater out of a sturdy box.  The table itself was free and I painted it with chalkboard paint but saved some of the original drawings that were on it when I found it. (Can you see the Pikachu in one corner)

This is a wide shot of the area housing sensory/nature baskets.

Each basket holds open ended, discovery STEM objects.  I try to have mostly natural materials.

This is the other side.  I have the kinders use the large blocks on the gathering rug (left side) to keep the area open for basket exchanges and to allow more space for building.

This is the doll house.  I have included 2 tree trunk stools for sitting.  I don't have a larger dramatic play area right now.  Our kindergarten team is trying out allowing students to move from room to room for choice time each day.  We are each hosting different play areas.  

My room is the painting and art room!  I will share this area in action in a later post.  We are awaiting some repairs and paint brushes.

Don't let this picture deceive you.  This is not just a box.  I moved into this classroom and went through the process of sorting and unpacking my things and those already in the room.  I wanted to intentionally create a beautiful, uncluttered space.  Much of my storage is on open shelves and I wanted to create a sustainable storage solution that sparked joy for me.  My solution was to save similar sized boxes.

And wrap them in pretty paper.  I was fortunate to find this paper the school "free" pile and had enough to wrap several boxes.

This is how it looks on the open shelving.  I did use clear storage containers I already had on the upper shelves but tried to create uniformity on the lower shelves.

This is another view.   I used painters tape to outline the edges of each box and as labels.  I love a good upcycle project!