In conjunction with the Pesach story, we took out 300 plastic cups for the kids in lieu of blocks, and demonstrated a simple 2-1 pyramid, and then let the kids take off on their own. The kids had such a great time, at first tentatively using as many as 15 cups, and then one boy piped up with the idea to make a GIANT pyramid. We carefully lined up a looooong base, and slowly built it up screaming every time there was a breeze. Eventually as we were around 6 rows from the top, the whole pyramid came tubing down whispering as it fell! The sheer delight on the kids' faces as it fell was priceless!

The only supplies you need are lots and lots of cups!

Have fun! Happy Building!!

I'm taking a quick break from Health, because I finally got around to doing this, and I'm super excited to show it off! The credit for this idea goes to The Growing Place, a Reggio school in Santa Monica, CA that I observed when I was in college.

You will need:

Full body photos of your students
Drawings of animals done by your students
Scissors
Alligator/Binder Clips (I got mine from the dollar spot at Target)
Hard Lamination

First, cut out the photos and animals so that you have their actual shapes. Then laminate them using the hardest lamination possible. Cut them out leaving a 1/2" at the base of each photo/animal. Now you're ready for the alligator clips! Place one photo/animal into each clip so that when the metal prongs are up, the clip is standing, supporting the photo. Next, turn the metal prongs downward as though you are going to squeeze the clip open, and instead, squeeze the 2 sides of each individual prong toward each other and remove them from the clip. Repeat this with all of the prongs. You may want to save them as replacing the pictures is a lot easier with the prongs. 

You now have your very own homemade play people and animals. Your kids will love playing in the block center "with their friends and drawings".