Inspired by an activity at one of the Des Moines children’s museums, Simon and his family created a magnetic fishing game. Using two poles with magnets attached to the ends, WF caught small, medium and large fish of different colors and textures (handsewn by Simon!) with washers sewn on. When the silver ring of a witch’s hat was accidentally caught, a curiosity arose about what else could be caught! Annie caught the dish washer!

Our Fairy Tale and Apple Studies are coming to their natural end as Wee Friend’s continue to express other interests. Both studies have allowed us to shift naturally into Halloween fun! Today we finished our hard boiled jack-o-lantern eggs by using black paint to create the faces. note: These will be in your child’s cubby to take home today. While we used non-toxic tempera paint to color them, they should not be consumed!

With a tray filled with black paint and dried pea pods, some friends continued creating art using orange paper and masking tape.

For lunch we served Miss Charlotte’s farm fresh eggs (hard boiled), apples/pears/craisins, whole grain flatbread and roasted butternut squash.

Have a wonderful weekend! Gymnastics Monday starting at 9am!

 

 

 

Ok, so it’s rainy and yucky outside.  The dreariness didn’t make it inside as the children initiated what can only be called Game Day.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The children worked in small groups to play a variety of games: several different types of memory games, Dominos, Connect Four, & Mancala.  All the games were played with developmentally appropriate rules for the age of the children that joined in.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Other activities included:

Painting hard boiled eggs as Jack-O-Lanterns.

Some beading time:

LOTS of block building:

and LOTS of small group story times and a few large group story times:

 

 

 

 

 

So, despite the crazy weather outside, our classroom was filled with cheer!

Here’s a few other shots from yesterday afternoon!

 

 

 

 

Stay warm and dry!

Boy, did we make the most of this rainy day! Our morning began with a rehearsal: Jane practiced being a bird “for my recital tonight with my Dad.” Our breakfast eaters were a captive audience, watching and listening closely.

After breakfast, a small group of friends moved to the truck room where we read about another bird, Are You My Mother? by P.D. Eastman. Umi, in particular, has asked us to read this book several times in the last few days. The kids know it so well that they asked the question “are you my mother?” every time it came up in the book. At one point, I stopped reading the words and they told the story, describing what they saw in the pictures. We found two other books about animals searching for their mothers, Little Baa (Kim Lewis) and Are You My Mommy (Carla Dijs) and compared and contrasted the three. We discussed where our own mothers are today. Afterwards, we acted out the story, blindfolding the baby bird who was searching for his/her mama.

The mother and child reunions were a little slice of heaven with big smiles and big embraces.

We introduced a new math game called “Flatware Fun!” Using butter knives, forks and spoons, friends sorted, counted, sketched, wrote corresponding numbers and adapted/created the game according to their developmental understanding.

Melinda read Macy’s book Good Dog Carl by Alexandra Day. The book is about a dog and has no written words. Melinda guided friends as they shared ideas about what was happening, based on the illustrations.

 

 

Friends have been playing a lot with waffle blocks this week. At one point this morning, a huge group was in the truck room playing and building collaboratively.

Melinda led a music lesson describing the concept of a note. She demonstrated which instruments played notes and which did not (piano/tambourine). She played her accordian and had musicians play a four count rhythm, encouraging them to count aloud and play on the beat.

For lunch we served whole wheat tortillas with melted cheese, fruit salad and black beans.

While lunch tables were set, Melinda and Wee Friends stretched out!

Enjoy your day.

PS: Your child’s art has been collected and placed in bags in their cubbies to take home today!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This morning Kai, Jane, Macy and Simon went swimming. Kai reported that they worked on mermaid kicks, the elementary back stroke and they jumped off the block.

We worked in two math games before the swimmers headed out: Leaf Matching and Pumpkin Bingo.

We resurrected two of our favorite Halloween songs: “Dem Bones” and “Stirring Our Brew.” We bent, stretched, stirred and identified many of the bones in our body as we sang.

When the swimmers left, we set out trays of shaving cream and invited our friends to choose a color and mix it in. We sang ooey gooey, squishy squishy and patting the cream songs as we explored the feel, smell and evolving colors of our creation.

Today for lunch we served the four varieties of apples that were sampled yesterday in our apple taste test. We heard several friends comment on the apples as they served themselves. Ada expressed “This is a Honeycrisp Apple.” Melinda asked “How do you know?” She replied “Because it’s a little bit red and a little bit green.” For teachers in Early Childhood, these moments are like winning the lottery! We are able to assess that the Apple Taste Test offered Ada a relevant connection to her own life! These moments happen all day long and affirm our WF Mission: to cultivate a love of learning.

Along with our delicious apples, we served turkey on whole wheat bread and corn.

THE FARM TRIP HAS BEEN CANCELLED FOR TOMORROW.

Have a great day.