Category: Preschool Activities - Sparkling Mindz

Shapes in my World

29/10/2024

Where do you find shapes around you?

Take a few seconds and look around.

What do you see? Maybe a square wall or a rectangular window. You might even see a cone-shaped hat!

Guess what, our three-year-olds from Sparkling Mindz Global school, found shapes in their food!

"See this sandwich, it's a square!"
"No, It's a triangle!" said another.
"No... See, my hand is like a triangle."

Oh, how true!

All the things around us can be broken down into simple shapes.

Here is a glimpse of the things they created using the simple shapes!

"This is a person!" said E, arranging shapes together and lying on them, replicating it.
"This is a rocket space shuttle," declared A as he stepped on it and pretended to fly to places unknown!
"This is a house," giggled P and T as they took shelter under a large square shape and sat on a chair.

What else did they create, you ask?

E stacked two circles to make a colourful burger.
T pretended to fold a circle to create a sandwich with veggies inside,
P and A arranged them into a tall clock, a robot and a Mantis just by rearranging a couple of shapes.

Just by rearranging a couple of shapes, their imagination came to life. With just a shape over their heads, they felt safe from invisible rain. A few twists and turns, and they brought the world to their fingertips. Stay tuned to find out what else our Preschoolers explore through the year!

Shapes, shapes! Oh, how shapes shape our lives.

Contributed by Maanasa, Learning Facilitator at Sparkling Mindz Global Preschool.

#sparklingmindzglobalpreschool
#inpiringconfidentlearners
#playbasedlearning
#reggioemiliainspired

Cultivating Empathy, One Small Visitor at a Time

26/10/2024

The recent floods brought an unexpected visitor—a small crab, missing one of its pincers, who found its way to us.

Before we knew, we had our preschoolers crowding around the crab, wonder in action. Instantly, the children’s curiosity sparked a wave of questions and ideas:

“Can we give it food?”
“Why is it opening its mouth?”
“What if we give it an egg?”—“No, he won’t like egg.”
“Then let’s give him a potato!”
“Maybe we should ask H Sir what crabs eat.”
“It has green eyes!”
“We want to take care of him.”

One child chimed in, “I like to eat carbs.” Another giggled, “You like to eat this crabs, huh?”
“Can we put it in our turtle pond?” someone asked. “Because it likes to swim!”
“I’ve only seen pretend crabs.”

Together, they gently carried the little crab to their turtle pond, believing this would be the perfect home. With wide smiles and hands held tight, they watched over their new friend, buzzing with excitement as though they’d accomplished something truly special and their collective joy filled the space.

In moments like these, nature’s disruptions become opportunities for empathy, connection, and joy. Despite the floods changing our routines, they can’t wash away the children’s sense of wonder. This little crab, with its missing pincer, is more than a visitor—it’s a reminder of how young hearts can learn resilience, kindness, and care for the world around them.

Contributed by Grace Veronica, Learning Facilitator and Preschool Coordinator, Sparkling Mindz Global Preschool.

#sparklingmindzglobalpreschool
#inspiringconfidentlearners
#empathybasedlearning
#wonderbasedlearning
#facilitatordiaries
#problemstoprojects

Mixing the Language of Materials

22/10/2024

Children learn through Hundred Languages!

During ITP (Invitation to Play) in Sparkling Mindz Preschool, they play with hundreds of materials that have their own language. Children, in turn, learn to listen to these languages!

Today was the language of Cotton!

They explored with various techniques -

An, aged 4, shared, “I am making it like a dough, I am pressing it and pinching it."

Au, aged 5 declared “I'm breaking the little pieces to make a forest."

Pr, aged 3, pounded the cotton with his fist and said “Making a chapati."

Sia, aged 5, stacked and pressed cotton pieces together so it would hold its shape.

As they did this, J, aged 6, excitedly asked, "Can I have some foam?” and all of a sudden, and a clamour of “Me too!” resounded through the atelier.

But why did they want foam?

“To make curd, Foam and Cotton is white and it will make white curd!”
“To make a cake, I need foam...”
“If we mix foam and cotton, we can roll it.
“I want to experiment!”

And guess what happened?

These experimenters went aboard the explore train.

Here are some of the things they found-

“By the time I wiped it, the cotton became so big, like a radish.”
“It turned yellow when I rubbed it!”
“It is becoming slimy like curd!”
“It is becoming sticky."
“I'm pulling the foam from the cotton now!”

In this way, the children learned to listen to the mixed-up languages of two different mixed-up materials, creating a mix-up of multiple experiences too!

#sparklingmindzglobalpreschool
#inspiringconfidentlearners
#playbasedlearning
#21stcenturyskills
#reggioemiliaapproach
#preschoolers

Contributed by Maanasa, Learning Facilitator at Sparkling Mindz Global Preschool

Everything Is Connected, Can You See It?

15/9/2022

Children make connections all the time, that's one of the ways they make sense of the world around them. The more their connections expand the more deeper and wider their thinking become. Here is an instance of how a child made a connection to what he learnt in a different context.

This morning during the book reading session with out 3- 4 YO we read a book called The Way I Feel by Janan Cain. Children began by revisiting the emotions they were already familiar with through a song and picked 2 new vocabulary "Silly" and "Scared" from the book to go deeper. Children explored silly by showing different funny expressions and scared by drawing instances where they felt scared.

Later that day during the Sports hour, children were learning to kick the ball in the playground. 4 YO K with all his strength kicked a ball and his shoes went flying in the air. He picks his shoes and comes running towards the facilitator for help and says "Silly!"

Connection making is a crucial skill that helps in the cognitive development of children, the skill involves recalling information from our memory, compare and contrast and chunking and sorting. Eg. K made a connection between the shoe flying and how that made him feel and used the new word he learnt to describe it.

When these connections are brought to their notice, it'll enable them to make more connections across different areas of their life and in different context helping them see learning as integrated rather then in fragments.

At SM connected learning in one of our values, we believe that learning is deeper and wider when all the learning areas (Math, Science, Social Studies, Languages) are connected to each other and in turn connected to life. And children learn concepts in connection to their life hence making learning purposeful and whole. Additionally here, when you can learn to laugh at yourself it's a gift the child takes for life.

Contributed by Yashika CG, Learning Facilitator at Sparkling Mindz Global Preschool.

#sparklingmindzglobalpreschool
#inspiringconfidentlearners
#21stcenturylearning
#makingconnections
#everychildcan

Imagination Unfolding!

15/9/2022

“I put some thoughts in my head,
I take a cloth in my hand,
spread, wrap,
Spread, wrap,
Shake it all about,
I get new ideas, I get more ideas,
And that’s what is all about”

This our preschool song sang to the tune of Hokey pokey.
One sunny morning, our preschoolers between the age of 4 - 5 years old, were invited with the above song to the lawn laid with colourful dupattas. Looking at which their imagination train took off and here's what followed.

Ar got deeply involved in attempting to wrap the dupatta around his neck trying to imitate tying a scarf.
Ana joyfully laid the white cloth on the grass, and called it a picnic mat, and with a blink of an eye she shouted "Who wants a ride", as she started to pull along the two edges of the cloth. One of them sat and Ana pulled along. Not very far she changed her mind and transformed herself to a vampire as she seeked help from me to tie the white cloth around her neck.
In the background, Li was rotating himself in circles, when asked, he said "I am making the smoke go, I am exhaust fan".

HOOH…HOOH... came the sounds, Yu and Ru are being the ghost. While talking to me, Yu changed his mind and is a chef now offering some healthy lollipops made up of mutton and rice.
I then walked to Ar who is no longer wearing a scarf, and is busy trying to get off the dupatta which is stuck on the wall high up. When asked what happened, he explained that spinning the dupatta and throwing it upwards resulted in this.

Aa walks up to me and says I am wearing "Siree" (kannada word for Saree) and gets busy covering her head. Looking at this one of the Calves (3-4 years old) passing by picks a dupatta and says that she wants to wear a saree too:)
I approached Ru who is making sounds like a whirring engine, when asked he said he is the driver for the helicopter. This thought became a collaborative play as the others started to be the passengers and made place for themselves by arranging chairs.

This is a glimpse of how our Cubs imagination unfolded into different shades, reflecting what's on their mind.

At Sparkling Mindz, imagination is an integral part of a child's learning, we believe that by providing space for their imagination to grow enables children to see things in newer ways, aiding them to see various perspectives and becoming better innovators and problem solvers. Along with it creating a space for children to authentically express themselves.
What are your thoughts on it? How would you like to tickle your imagination muscle today?

#sparklingmindzglobalpreschool
#inspiringconfidentlearners
#imaginationunfolding
#21stcenturylearning
#everychildcan

Contributed by Neha Nair, Learning Facilitator at Sparkling Mindz Global Preschool

'Tis the season to be jolly, fa la la la la la la!

24/6/2022

'Tis the season to be jolly, fa la la la la la la!

No no, not Christmas but jolly because our preschoolers are in school!

With wonder in their eyes,

They have embarked,

On a magical exploration train,

Soaking in all the sights and colours,

Experiencing play through all their senses,

Making new friends and playing together,

Challenging themselves every step of the journey!

#sparklingmindzglobalpreschool
#inspiringconfidentlearners
#reggioemiliainspired
#21stcenturylearning
#socialemotionallearning

Look at Who Will be Welcoming Our Preschoolers Back Next Month!

26/4/2022

An environment is a living, changing system. More than the physical space, it includes the way time is strucutured and the roles we are expected to play. It conditions how we feel, think, and behave; and it dramatically affects the quality of our lives. The environment either works for us or against us as we conduct our lives.
- Jim Greenman

Space is an indispensable component in the Reggio Emilia approach towards education. The space or the environment is considered to be the third teacher after parents and facilitators according to the philosophy. Being a Reggio inspired school, space set up is an integral part of our curriculum planning and every element of space is thought through and placed with an intention to enable communication between children, with adults in the system and with the space itself.

This year as we plan to embarked on another exciting academic journey, we decided to redesign our space by bringing our unique Sparkling Mindz characters to invite children to be part of their inspiring stories of exploration and wonder. We used the glass sliding doors in each classroom as portals to the world of interaction, exploration, imagination and movement.

Each door holds a scene from the stories of Cloudsy, Braiynee Bee, Flexi Daisy, Treeous, Q.marq, Randall and Animo's adventurous lives painted carefully with an objective to spark thinking and discussions as we eagerly await children to return to school post their summer vacations.

#sparklingmindzglobalpreschool
#inspiringconfidentlearners
#reggioemiliainspired
#designthinkingprocess
#spacedesign
#21stcenturylearning

The 100 Languages of Our Preschool Children!

27/1/2022

"The child is made of one hundred" - Loris Malaguzzi

This Children's Day our preschool children explored their 100.

What does this 100 stand for? And what are these 100 that children are made of? What does it exactly mean?

When we asked children what they thought about it, this is what they shared,

"All our hands together make hundred hands"
"We have hundred brains, million words and powers"
"Hundred thoughts and infinite powers"
"Hundred ways of playing with cars"

Children understood that the '100' are not literal things but a representation of the variety within them, and the diversity of their potential.

We then set out on a journey together to explore further how these hundred ways of thinking, expressing, and wondering translated in our classes.

Take a look and journey along with us.

#sparklingmindzglobalpreschool
#inspiringconfidentlearners
#100languagesofchildren
#reggioemiliainspired

A Paper Mache Adventure By Our Preschool Facilitators!

27/4/2021

Inspired by the nature, Reggio-Emilia system, and wanting to use less of the non-degradable materials, our facilitators decided to take things into their own hands and create bowls using paper.

So they got together on a Saturday morning, during the weekly training session, and embarked on an adventure to creating paper mache!

Once the torn papers were soaked for the weekend, on Monday post class, they got back together to continue their journey towards creating bowls. The soaked papers were mashed with flour, oil, fevicol and water to create the below, and put out to dry.

At Sparkling Mindz Global, it's not just the children who have fun learning and creating, but the facilitators too; making mistakes, learning through them, co-creating a safe, happy and creative environment for each other and growing together as a community!

#reggioemiliainspiredlearning
#sparklingmindzglobalpreschool
#inspiringconfidentlearners
#facilitatorlearningdiaries
#learningneverstops

Contributed by Sruthy Krishna, Learning Facilitator at Sparkling Mindz Global Preschool.

Our Little Engine can do anything!

14/3/2021

Every morning children sing different SM welcome songs to greet each other before beginning the day at school. One morning, our 2 to 4 year olds looked like most of them did not eat breakfast, no energy at all. Can you visualize how a flower without water how it looks? It wouldn't be much of an exaggeration if I told you that our children looked the same way.

This inspired me to read a book called "The Little Engine", to get them back up on their energy levels. This book is about how the little engine did not give up when faced with challenges till the end and also helped the others in the process. His favourite chant so that he won't give up was, "I Think I Can", which was what I hoped would energize the children today.

So I checked with the children if they would like to listen to a story. As expected, they were all aboard!

While reading the book, my gaze panned through the class. This was what I saw: pin-drop silence, all their eyes glued to the images, nobody blinking. They were focused and paying attention without a movement in absolute silence. At the end of the story, I saw a lot of clarity in their faces, a bunch of warm smiles and some who showed a variety of mixed emotions.

During our reflection of the story, post the usual questions on what was the story, did they like the story and such, we jumped into a specific question,

What did you like in the story?

A:Train is carrying a lot of toys, even I have a lot of toys at home.

As she was sharing the other children pitched in and shared their toys’ details too. They together counted their toys, specifying the features and at a certain point they started to argue with each other too until T said: “I have a little engine at my home!"

Facilitator (F): Oh wow! What do you do with that little engine?
T: I play with it

This got the others to share about what do with trains too such as, “We play with it, we put things on it to carry, I go on a ride and have lot of fun”...

F: Very nice! What do you think the little engine is doing here?

D: Ma’am, it is helping.
F: Who is it helping?
V: big train
A: blue train

F: Why is it helping?
D: Because it is big it is heavy.
Ari: It can't move.

F: How is it helping?
V: I think I can
T: It's pulling the big engine and saying I think I can

Upon hearing this, In chorus everyone started singing, "I think I can! I think I can!"

F: What did you learn from this story?
A: I think I can
D: I think I can

And they continued singing it some more…

Suddenly I heard a voice that said "I think I can help".
As everybody was singing out loud, this little voice wasn’t very audible. So he was asked to repeat.
Ari:" I THINK I CAN HELP! "

F: what do you mean by that Ari?
And he said, “I can also help others” Meaning that he can be like the Little Engine and help others too. This inspired T and she added, “I THINK I CAN DO IT!”

Post this, we saw children religiously following it, reminding each other when they did not follow.

After a month or so, I received a video recording from a parent to see the child repeating the said slogan and not giving up in tough situations. It was definitely a surprise for both the parent and me to watch.

When children are given the freedom to personalize their learning, they start showing ownership of the learning. They customize it to their liking and use it at the required spaces. At SM, when a child learns something new, they learn it as an experience by going in depth through various forms. They then connect this learning not only at school, but also everywhere, gaining knowledge and mastery at it! They show us that learning is fun!

Contributed by Sheela Peter, Learning Facilitator at Sparkling Mindz Global Preschool.

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#sparklingmindzglobalpreschool
#sparklingmindzglobal
#reggioemiliainspired