I have to say out of all the things I have observed the children do over the past several months, Gumdrop Day was one of the most successful and fun days for me to observe and for the pre-kindergarten children to enjoy! Â This post is part one of our Gumdrop Day – tomorrow will be part 2!
There was some concern that the Pre-k children would be more interested in eating the gumdrops rather than creating with them but this was not the case. Â The children were completely engaged in the different activities that were provided!
At this table, as part of Letter “Gg” week, the children were making gumdrop patterns.
Simple AB patterns were what we were shooting for. Â An AB pattern would consist of two objects or colors like “Red – Yellow – Red – Yellow.” Â Most of the children caught on to the AB patterns very quickly – others needed a little more guidance to understand the concept.
And then there were a few children who took off with the idea and made patterns that exceeded the objective of the day!
One thing I like about an activity like this is that the children are able to work at their own level and at their own pace. I like the sensory involved too. The taste, smell, and the feel of the sugary gumdrops is a bonus to this patterning activity! Â We could have used paper gumdrops but using the real deal is so much more fun and engaging!
It was such a pleasure to watch the children as they focused on creating their patterns – I could just see the wheels spinning as they worked on their gumdrop patterns.