Some New Ways to Develop Language and Play for our Room

I invested this September in a couple expensive items for my Transitional K classroom. Not that  I can afford it. And happily I chose these items because they were significantly reduced on Amazon. I know why now, assembly = pure torture. But they are assembled and in my classroom thanks, in part, to Luca and Jack doing a lot of the putting together- when it was clear the KidKraft way is LONG on assembly. And after I cried.

It's a fire station.
And I punched a huge hole in my thumb trying to make two parts left out of the box with a cork. They hold the elevator in place.

I am teaching Fire Safety or "Fire Helpers" this week, we'll make a firetruck in paper and see a cute video. Songs and Poems have yet to get together and I do have resources I just need to get them out and set up. So I thought about it and got the fire station because I do like these engaging doll house like structures in center time. It may well be my class this year has plenty of opportunity to engage with these kinds of toys, but I think looking back at my childhood, I'd have liked that opportunity. My own kids liked these play areas, once.

 About three weeks ago I built and added this puppet theater. It's a lot of fun, but so far we haven't totally got it down how to play with it in centers. Every Thursday I have students act out our month's fairy tale. Very soon we are going to start Three Billy Goats Gruff. That ought to be fun.

I think.

 Here are the two sitting at home getting ready to be hauled over to my class.

 In class ready for tomorrow!

 This Little Kitchen looks so small in my classroom!

There are so many things to do in a TK, and so much to set up and help happen. I get overwhelmed much of the time.
But in terms of darling things for play-I added a few things.

Meanwhile my district is adding kids at a rate that makes it very hard to do the job. But that's another story for another day. Maybe over coffee.