Pre-KG 2022 / 23 Blog 18 Fish, fish everywhere !

Pre-KG 2022 / 23 Blog 18

Fish, fish everywhere !

Our classroom board with the nice pictures of families at meal times is still the point of many conversations.

As one picture features my big sea bream which I enjoyed at New Year I asked the Pre-Kindergarten whether they liked fish and got very mixed responses from …yummy, yes, lecker, good to yucky and neeee. (colloquial fGerman for no).

Japan is surrounded by the sea which hosts many fish and other sea animals, so we usually have the chance to observe something swimming in the water.

When the children told me that we have fish at school, we went to our two aquarium tanks to see what is swimming in there. The goldfish have become quite big and were counted, but the little fish were hiding and could only be found in a corner. Everyone agreed that we should not eat the fish that live at the school.

Having inquisitive minds, the Pre-Kindergarten children wondered whether there would be fish in the nearby river.

So we went there and the children stood on the bridge waiting patiently for something to swim by, but it was just the clear water flowing.

Back at school the children tried to connect the colourful pieces of our wooden German fish puzzle which takes a bit of skill.

Then they wanted to go fishing, so we gave them another German wooden puzzle, this time with bigger pieces and magnets on them. The children took out and placed the fish shaped pieces again and again showing patience and taking turns nicely.

Our Pre-Kindergarten classroom boasts quite a variety of books themed around the ocean or featuring fish and other sea animals and the most popular is one were the cardboard pieces can be taken out.

We therefore decided to make our own cardboard fish featuring rainbow scales made of colourful recycled paper triangles.

The children showed great concentration and joy in making their individual fish and they look lovely.

We also got some help making a new display board to let all these fish swim in.

Throughout the week the children loved to fish using a variety of games and homemade magnet sticks. As this is such an enjoyable activity for the children, we will let them colour sea animals, laminate them and put magnets on, so each child has their own set of magnets to fish with.

We might even make some small individual fishing pools, but let this be a surprise.

The children had another week of exploration, fun and good friendship as they welcomed one of their friends, Sofia, back into the classroom and all played happily.

Even though this week at school was shorter, it was very busy and I am looking forward to a relaxing long weekend and some delicious sushi!

Yours, 

Anita Ursula Mönch

DSKI Pre-Kindergarten homeroom teacher 

Playgroup / EY German