The Big GreenBall

At the center, the kids love to play with, “the big green ball.” It’s one of those therapy or stability balls that people use during physical or occupational therapy. There are smaller ones that people use for exercise, but the one that we have at the center is huge.

One of their favorite things to do with the big green ball is to have it role over them. On one of our rainy days, I brought a few kids down to a huge room we have and got out the ball. The kids were excited about playing with the ball because we don’t play with it often. I asked what we should play and they said they wanted to make pizza. Last year, a teacher who no longer works with us made up a game with the ball about making pizza and the kids have liked playing it ever since. The kids lay flat on the floor in a straight line so that the ball can role over their backs. The first part is making the dough so I role the ball flat over the kids and tell them that I’m making the dough. Next comes the sauce so I lightly bounce the ball over them. Next comes the cheese so I bounce the ball lightly a few times on each child’s back. Then next comes the toppings which each child gets to pick. Two children picked pepperoni, one picked more cheese, one picked tomatoes and the last girl picked sprinkles. This is a girl who always picks something different which makes things more interesting. For each topping, I bounce the ball a few times on each child’s back and then role it over them to smoothe out the toppings.

Then the kids decided that we should play the game with vegetables so I stopped at each child and asked them what their favorite vegetable was. I got some interesting responses like broccoli, pumpkin, etc. They weren’t things I’d expect, but I was glad to hear that they liked their veggies. Then the girl who likes different things surprised me and said she liked broccoli like one of the boys in the class. The kids started kicking the ball when I’d come around to them and I said this could ruin the ball since our shoes are rough and asked what else we could play that would be better for the ball.

They couldn’t come up with something so I suggested we stand in a circle and role the ball back and forth. It’s a good turn taking game and can actually be a good introductions game at the beginning of the year or whenever new children start. Each person has to say the name of the person before they role it to them. They were occupied with this game for about ten minutes until it was time for the next activity. I had to remind the kids to take turns, but not too often. They made sure that everyone got the ball at least a few times. They will cooperate well and learn patience if they are engaged in the activity. Pushing and rolling the ball around was good exercise on a rainy day.

A Play-dough Breakfast

I was sitting at the play-dough table with one of the boys and he wanted to make breakfast. He’s from Sweden and is just starting to learn English. I’m using the play-dough to expand his vocabulary. Two weeks ago, he asked me to help him make something. I decided out of the blue to make eggs and he enjoyed seeing the different sized eggs. I started with eggs the size of a fingertip and each time, he’d say, “bigger bigger!” The biggest one ended up being the size of a baseball. After all the eggs were made, he started counting and made it up to 13. He was able to make it up to seven by himself and then we finished counting together. Another boy came over and started making snakes. We ended up cracking the eggs, breaking them apart and rolling out snakes until it was time to clean up.

Then this past week, we really got into making breakfast. He asked me to come over and make something with him, but he asked for the eggs this time. I started with a small egg again and he of course asked for a bigger one. Then a boy next to us started talking about Dunkin Donuts. I asked the boys if they liked donuts and they excitedly said yes. Then I asked if I should make more eggs and he said, “no, a dunkin.” I said, “you mean a donut?” Then he said, “yeah, a donut!” I made my first donut and then as usual, he asked for bigger. I made a few more donuts and he’d count them after each new one was made. I decided that we needed more food for breakfast and made pancakes. I knew pancakes are his favorite since he brings them all the time for lunch. He got excited and I made two pancakes. He repeated the word pancakes. I asked what he liked to drink with breakfast. He didn’t know what I meant so I asked if he liked tea, milk or juice. He said, “juice.” So I made a little cup out of play-dough which he took and put with the rest of his breakfast. It was clean up time, but I’m hoping to make more play-dough creations with this boy before he leaves this month. I’m also hoping to see him make some creations of his own. He’s come a long way since the spring when he first arrived.

Quotes from Preschoolers

Me: “What do you want to be when you grow up?”
Boy: “First you have to go to college.”
Me: “Okay, what about after college?”
Boy: “I want to get a motorcycle and ride around on it all day.”

While reading a story:
Teacher: “Why do you think the mom is in a wheelchair?”
Boy: Because she’s painful.”
Later in the conversation,
Teacher: “How do you think she goes down stairs?”
Boy: “When wheelchairs go down stairs, they go bump bump bump bump!”

Before an art project where kids are supposed to draw their families.
Teacher: “What else do we need to draw to make this a person?”
Boy: “A belly.”
Another boy: “A head.”
A third boy: “Arm pits.”
A fourth boy: “Stinky armpits!”
A fifth boy: “Yeah. Stinky armpits!”

Here are some of my older favorites from past children.
Me: “Can you tell me about this picture?”
Boy: “It’s a pile of dung.”
Then he turns to another boy and says, “Look at my pile of dung!”

Teacher: “Does anyone in your family play any musical instruments?”
Boy: “My dad plays Guitar Hero.”

After giving a girl a plush unicorn before she moved away.
Girl: “Thank you for my friend.”

Me: “What are you doing?”
Girl: “We’re making tomato heads.”

Girl: “Do you know what a fart is?”
Boy: “Whaaaat?”
Girl: “It’s something that smells stinky like poop, but it is
You don’t see it. It just. It does this.” She makes a farting sound.


Me: “Read this book to me.”
Girl: “I can’t read. I can’t read a word!”

Another girl climbs to the top of one of the slides on the playground.
Me: “Can you see the man cutting the tree up there?”
“Girl: I can see him now.”
Me: “why do you think the man is cutting the tree down?”
Girl: “Cause some trees get sick.”
Me: “How do trees get sick?”
“Girl: They’re playing and then they get really tired and then they get sick.”