Learning Areas

Painting		Learning areas give students opportunities to engage in "free play"  - - and are DIFFERENT than Learning Centers (Literacy Corners).  Most Kindergarten classrooms have these areas contained within their classroom walls.  At our school, they are housed in a very special place within our Kindergarten wing.  Below you will see pictures and descriptions of each area.     Students visit Learning Areas four days per week.  We don't go on our art and library day.  Two classes visit the Learning Areas at the same time, allowing the classes opportunities to interact with each other.  Each student has a clothespin, and uses it to select an area to visit each day.  Each class is assigned a colored dot so students from each class are able to visit each area.
Dress Up
Log Cabin
Doll House
Sensory Table
Manipulatives
Blocks
Sand Table
Water Table
Writing

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Painting

Sept.	Oct.	Nov.	Dec.	Jan.
School Bus	Paper Bag Pumpkin	Coffee Filter Turkey	Wreath	Crayon Resist Art
Paint Brushes	Paint Brushes	Eye Droppers	Sponges	Paint Brushes
Tempera Paint	Tempera Paint	Colored Water	Tempera Paint	Water Colors
Template Design	Template Design	Template Design	Template Design	Child Chosen Design

 

 

Feb.	Mar.	Apr.	May	June
Marble Painted Stencil Art	Finger Painting Art	Wall-Mural Painting	Dot Art
Marbles	Fingers	Paint Brushes	Dot Paint Pens
Tempera Paint	Glitter Poster Paint	Tempera Paint	Dot Paint
Child Chosen Design	Child Chosen Design	Child Chosen Design	Child Chosen Design

 

 

 

Dress Up

 

• Sink

• Stove/Oven

• Refrigerator

• Pantry

• Washer and Dryer

• Iron Board

• Iron

• Table and Chairs

• Desk and Chair

• Couch and Chair

• Mirror

• Computer

• Telephone

• Crib

• Babies

• Dress Up Clothing (dresses, shirts, skirts)

• Accessories (sunglasses, glasses, ties, scarves, bracelets, necklaces, earrings, gloves, wallets, purses)

• Empty Household Food/Cleaning Supplies Boxes

• Fake Food

• Dishes and Silverware

 

Log Cabin

Sept.	Oct.	Nov.	Dec.	Jan.
Pet Store	Farm Market	Pilgrim Plantation and Native American Village	Ornament Shop	Ice Shanty and Fish & Chips Shack
Students care for stuffed animal dogs, cats, fish, frogs, snakes, birds, insects, rabbits, monkeys, etc.  Veterinarian tends to animal needs.  Dress Up area students visit the veterinarian office as well as the pet store.  Clothing to fit each role is provided.	Students use real fruits and veggies to plant, grow, harvest, and sell.  Dress Up area students visit the Farm Market to purchase fruits and veggies.  Clothing to fit each role is provided.	Pilgrims tend to their log cabin home and make pumpkin muffins, bread, cookies, etc using pumpkin play doh.  They also cook dinner (fake food) in their stove, and serve it on tin plates, etc.  Pilgrims may also visit their nearby neighbors.  The Native American villagers cook over their village fire, tend to their gardens, and create beaded necklaces or create a piece of artwork using yarn and needles.  Clothing to fit each role is provided.	Students darn the Christmas tree with various ornaments.  Christmas tree shop workers create specialized wrapping paper for their guests, wrap gifts, and  assist shoppers as they shop.  Dress Up area students visit the Ornament shop to purchase ornaments for the Christmas tree in their "home" and for family and friends.	Fishermen and women color fish of different sizes, fish in the ice shanty, measure fish that were caught, and enter their largest into the fishing contest. Ice shanty workers seat restaurant visitors, provide them with menus, take orders, and cook up guest orders (fish, bread, coleslaw, pie, French fries, milk).  Dress Up area students visit the Fish and Fry Shack, order from the menu, and pay when finished.  Clothing to fit each role is provided.

 

Feb.	Mar.	Apr.	May	June
Post Office	Observatory	Farm	Camp Site
Students work inside the post office selling stamps, weighing packages, and sorting/delivering mail.  Students work outside the post office to write letters and postcards, visit the post office to purchase stamps and mail packages/letters.  Dress Up area students also visit the post office to mail letters and purchase stamps.	Students visit the observatory to star gaze (locate stars that sport numbers, shapes, or letters), utilize telescopes (find matching telescope pictures), go for a moon walk (create an ABC chart), and learn about constellations (create them on LiteBrite).	Students put on farm clothes and tend to the farm animals and other farm chores.  Visit the duck pond, pig pen, horses, and other areas of interest.  Stuffed animals abound!	Students pack their gear and go camping.  Camping experiences include roasting marshmallows over the campfire, playing flashlight tag in the tent, ...

 

 

 

Doll House

• Doll House

• Mom Doll

• Dad Doll

• Brother and Sister Dolls

• Baby Doll

• Pets

• Furniture

• Swing Set

• Fence

• Car

Seasonal Doll House Changes:

October: add Halloween decorations to house 

April: add barn, add farm animals, add silo, and other farm equipment 

 

 

Blocks

• Giant Waffle Blocks

• Hardwood Blocks

• Wooden Cars/Trucks

• Fisher Price Cars/Trucks

• Construction Hats

• Construction Tools

• Fisher Price Car Garage and Assorted Cars/People, etc

• Train Track Set

 

Writing

• Magna Doodles

• White Boards

• Tactile Letters

• Paper Punches and Paper Shapers

• Fancy and Regular Scissors

• Twist Up Crayons

• Glue Sticks and Bottles

• Fat/Skinny Markers

• Felt Tip Pens

• Gel Pens

• Copy and Construction Paper

• Seasonal Emergent Readers

• Seasonal Word Books

• Seasonal Cards, Letters, Postcards

• Seasonal Calendars

• Seasonal Graphs

 

Water Table

Sept.	Oct.	Nov.	Dec.	Jan.
Water Play Toys	Water Play Toys	Ocean Animals	Magnetic Fishing Set	Magnetic Numbers Fishing Set

 

Feb.	Mar.	Apr.	May	June
Magnetic Alphabet Fishing Set	Number Ducks	Alphabet Ducks	Sink or Float Set

 

 

 

 

Sand Table

• Rakes, Shovels, Sifters, Buckets

• Sand/Water Wheel

• Measuring Cups and Spoons

• Bowls, Cups, Plates, Muffin Tins

• Sprayers and Eye Droppers

• Funnels

• Dinosaurs

• Plants/Trees/Shrubs

• Rocks

 

Sensory Table

Sept.	Oct.	Nov.	Dec.	Jan.
Play-Doh	Field Corn	Noodles	Christmas Bows and Ribbons	Beans
Students manipulate play-doh using a variety of tools.	Students manipulate, measure, compare, contrast corn field using a variety of measuring tools.	Students manipulate, measure, compare, contrast noodles using a variety of measuring tools.  Noodles are different shapes, sizes, and colors.	Students sort the Bow and Ribbon filled sensory table by color.  Bows and ribbons are placed into the correct drawer by color.  Students may also use "fun" scissors to create gift bag "grass" (filling).	Students manipulate, measure, compare, contrast noodles using a variety of measuring tools.  Beans (dried) are different shapes, sizes, and colors.

 

Feb.	Mar.	Apr.	May	June
100 Hearts	Pots of Gold	Flower Garden	Magnets
Students search the Valentine Colored Grass filled sensory table for 100 numbered hearts using tongs.  As hearts are found, students place them on the 100s chart (match numbers).  Hearts are are attached to the chart with Velcro.	Students search the rainbow colored grass filled sensory table for golden coins using tongs.  Once gold coins are found, they sort the coins into pots (black pots).  Coins are sorted into groups of 10.  Goal is to find 100 coins, filling the 10 pots.	Students darn their gardening gloves and hats and dig into their garden.  The sensory table is filled with birch bark chips.  Students plant their garden (fake colorful flowers), weed, and pick flowers to create flower arrangements for friends.  Vases and baskets are made available.  Garden tools are also available to be used.	Students experiment with magnets.  They search for items that are magnetic - -sorting non-magnetic things and things that are magnetic.

 

 

 

Manipulatives

• Puzzles (wooden, floor)

• Legos

• Duplos

• Number Ring Toss

• Alphabet Ring Toos

• Bead Lacing

• Alphabet Peg Boards

• Crystal Climbers

• Zoobs

• Dominoes

• Bristle Blocks

• Marble Works

• Daisy Builders

• Gears Building Set