Thank you, Kellie, for the lily-of-valley bulbs and everyone for bringing in cereal boxes!

Today we transformed our Hopscotch Room into a pirate ship! We began with discussing several new pirate words (ex: rigging, prow, crow’s nest). As we learned the meaning of the word we hunted for the item in our house (ex: rigging) or determined where in Hopscotch that item might appear (ex: crow’s nest). We donned new pirate bandanas and hopped aboard the Wee Friend’s Junk. We used our new vocabulary as we sailed the seas in a musical improv. After seeing a snapping turtle at the farm yesterday, one friend exclaimed “I see snapping turtles!” We became ‘marooned’ on an island where the pirates found gold coins. This turned into a gold coin counting game for the bigger kids! It’s wonderful to see how our friends communicate, negotiate and problem solve while at sea! Not to mention the amazing (and hilarious!) stories that unfold. F.1.42 Pretend to do something or be someone. F.1.43 Use new vocabulary learned from experiences. F.6.15 Use trial and error to solve problems. F.6.16 Generalize a solution to a new situation.

While our older friends were at swimming, our toddlers counted and marched to “The Ants Go Marching” We turned a sheet into a parachute that we shook up and down and crawled under. F.1.1 Sing and dance to a number song. F.3.1 Exhibit self-confidence while participating in movement activities.

A small group of Wee Friends continued to explore how many syllables make up their name. Many friends wanted to include other loved ones: we counted El-mo (1-2!), Bun-ny (1-2!), and Dai-sey (1-2!) We’ve been working on this since last fall and the kids are mastering this musical rhythmic game!

Amy Crosson gave each Wee Friend an opportunity to plant tomato seeds in a flat, preparing them for our upcoming garden work! Thank you, Amy!! F.3.10 Take care of familiar plants and animals. F.3.13 Sort things by attribute or characteristic.

Please save your empty cereal boxes for us! We have another pirate project under our sleeve!

This morning we turned a Tupperware ‘lazy susan’ into a pirate’s compass. We found different pictures of compasses and added letters to represent North, South, East and West. Friends spun the compass and guessed which direction it would land on. Some friends found the direction on a map we taped to the table. Others guessed which Wee Friends names started with an N, S, E or W.  F.6.4 Make simple cause/effect predictions F.2.4 Apply previously learned information to new situations.

Many friends measured, mixed and kneaded salt dough with the intention of creating pirate coins. As friends began making coins, they expressed how tricky it was because the dough was thin and hard to work with. This led to a conversation/comparison of thick/thin and large/small circles. Some of the older friends combed the environment to find different sized circles. They then connected the previous compass study into the dough by creating compasses. F.5.6 Use common measuring tools in correct context. F.2.3 Compare and contrast own creations and those of others.

Have a terrific weekend!

Thank you, Charlie, for the coffee filters!

This morning Melinda played the piano while a small group of friends chose instruments and sang our Wee Friends Pirate Shanty:

Wee Friends Pirates

(sung to the tune of Tingalayo)

Wee Friends Pirates, we sail the mighty seas!

Wee Friends Pirates, we sail the mighty seas!

Me pirate walks, me pirate talks,

Me pirate sails the mighty seas!

Me pirate walks, me pirate talks,

Me pirate sails the mighty seas!

(repeat)

As we sang, we discussed/explored how to produce a rolled ‘r’ sound with our tongues. Enjoy singing this with your pirate at home! F.3.2 Moderate movements to tempo (fast/slow) and dynamics (loud/soft) of music heard. F.2.2 Express self in dramatic play through.language development activities.

Some younger friends climbed into the art loft and identified transportation vehicles by color and form and then sorted them into corresponding colored cups.  F.1.18 Apply one-to-one correspondence with objects and people.

 We introduced new pirate felt board story pieces and a small group of older friends played our pirate coin counting game.  F.1.2 Count a number of objects up to (fifteen).

 We put orange red and green water colors out on the easel inspiring some fabulous creations! F.2.17 With various media, use shapes, lines and color.

It was a BUSY morning!

We examined the frog eggs that Kaitlyn collected at the farm.  (As a sidebar here, I found the waterbottle filled with frog eggs on my kitchen counter.  The note my daughter attached to the waterbottle said, “Frog eggs 4 WF.  Don’t Drink!!!”.  It doesn’t get any funnier than that!) We looked at books about frogs and compared the pictures to the eggs we have. F.3.9 Observe and explore a variety of live plants and animals. F.3.11 Identify plants and animals as living things.

 All of the individual parts of our classroom pirate flag were finished so several of the kids worked cooperatively at sewing them onto the big flag.

The new Trios Pirate Ship arrived yesterday.  Several parents saw me trying to put the silly ships together since they came in about 100 “easy to assemble” pieces!  It was worth the work since the ships caught the interest and creativity of the children all morning long. 

The Trios Pirate Ship has a cannon and a cannonball that shoots out of it.  I realized before I added this toy to our play, that the cannonball was quite forcefully projected when fired!  The kids were disappointed that I didn’t include the cannonball so we did some cannonball testing.  We set up the tape measure and each interested child fired cannonballs from the two ships to see how far they would go.  Some of the cannonballs went as far as 9½ feet, which told me my decision to keep the cannonballs up was probably the right one! F.2.9 Make guesses related to quantity. F.1.16 Rote count to ten. F.1.19 Identify the next number in a series of numbers up to ten. F.5.6 Use common measuring tools in correct context.F.4.4 Participate in discussions related to their findings. F.4.5 Use charts, drawings, and/or graphs to share their findings with others.

Taco has been getting acquainted with the kids.  He’s very calm and the kids have been enjoying holding him! F.3.10 Take care of familiar plants and animals.

We had another fabulous morning filled with pirate talk and pirate creations!

Several children made Sculpture Dough and chose to create models of ships; both princess and pirate!  It is great to help them research ship design in books, hear them talk about ship design, and then see them create their ideas three dimensionally. F.1.43 Use new vocabulary learned from experiences. F.2.6 Use familiar materials to measure things.F.3.2investigate and talk about the characteristics of matter (e.g., liquids and solids). F.2.9 Use different colors, surface textures, and shapes to create form and meaning.

Several children finished the sewing of their pirate flags.  Isaac, as Tami worked with him on sewing technique, told her, “I know how to sew; I just don’t know how to sew things!”  Ha!

We had an exciting visit from a WF alumni!  Isabelle and her Dad stopped in to play for awhile.  All of the children enjoyed the reunion.

Yonatan’s Dad, Jason, shared his beautiful voice and guitar skills while several of the children added some backup instruments.   Melinda later led a large group of children in singing and playing instruments along with one of our CD’s.  F.1.3 Sing along to familiar songs.F.1.4 Request certain songs/finger plays, etc.F.1.5 Clap hands in glee/begin to clap in rhythm.F.1.6 Dance/sway/tap toes/jump/hop to music alone or with others. F.3.1 Play classroom instruments.F.3.2 Moderate movements to tempo (fast/slow) and dynamics (loud/soft) of music heard.

The sensory table pirate ship still held the interest of many of the children.  We had a small group of 4 children that played in that area for 75 minutes straight.   The teachers realized after the play was over that the boys did a fantastic job managing the conflicts that arose.  There was only one instance where Melinda was needed to help solve a problem (that was easily solved!). F.2.13 Start sharing some objects with others. F.2.14 By age four, compromise, share, and take turns. F.2.15 Show greater ability to control intense feelings (e.g., anger, frustration).