Good Afternoon!

This morning friends were busy working to build with Magna-Tiles. They used a variety of colorful tiles to build a tall building with walls on all sides.  Hannah built two cubes and stacked them on top of each other.  The friends then added animals or Little People to their building creations.

We then headed into the kitchen to paint with bugs.  We started out by using the legs of the bugs to make small lines on our papers.  Several friends then used their hands to finger paint their papers and then use the bug’s legs to make markings in it. The older friends also found out they could spread the paint around again and start over if they weren’t content with how the markings turned out.

Eleanor was very entertained by the sound of the stuffed animal’s rattle when she shook it.

Breakfast: Whole grain Corn Chex cereal with fresh pear slices.

Lunch: Peanut butter on whole grain wheat tortillas, cheddar cheese slices, fresh oranges and corn.

Afternoon Snack: Whole grain wheat bagels with butter and cinnamon/sugar mixture and apple slices.

Wee Sprout: Cucumbers.

Have a terrific evening!

Rebekah and Tina

Link to pictures: 2023-04-25

Hello!

Our kindergarteners played a sorting game for their sign in that required them to distinguish between the four seasons. There were a few that were tricky and they had to determine if the picture went into the season ‘spring’ or ‘summer’.

Science: K.3.5 Describe and give examples of weather changes and illustrate how weather affects people and the environment.

Today in the imaginative house keeping area the baby dolls have been very popular for obvious reasons!  We set up a pretend baby food making activity using dry oat meal, kitchen utensils and jars to put the baby food in.  We could pretend to measure with measuring cups and fill a cooking pot with oat meal.  We talked about how babies usually eat things mashed or pureed as a first food, so many of our friends spend time pretending to mash the food with their hands.  We all enjoyed filling lots of little jars with the pretend baby food to feed to our babies. 

Several of us worked on our bean journals today.  We had a couple of very observant friends who noticed the tiny hole in the seed called the “radical”.  We talked about how that this is the place were the plant will grow from when it germinates. 

In the art center some of us worked on our hanging wind chime bead work, stringing our beads to hang from our painted branches. 

Breakfast– Chex and fresh pears.

Lunch– Melted shredded cheese on whole wheat tortilla, fresh pears/oranges, and fresh carrots/cucumber.

PM snack– Whole wheat bagel with peanut butter and string cheese.

Wee Sprout– Fresh carrots/cucumber.

Have a great night!

-Wee Friends Teachers

Link to pictures: 2023-04-25

Happy Monday!

We’re diving into the world of weather this week! We read, ‘The Invisible Boy’ in K/PREK1 group and afterwards, each child had to say aloud a type of weather. A few weather terms that were used were ‘hurricane’, ‘hot weather’, ‘thunderstorms’, and ‘rain’. We can’t wait to dive into weather more this week—we’re sure going to have an abundance of weather here in Indiana this week!

Science: K.3.5 Describe and give examples of weather changes and illustrate how weather affects people and the environment.

Today we enjoyed a combination of imaginative and experimental play as we explored ice.  We were able to interact with large blocks of ice as well as small cubes.  At the round table we could choose from a variety of interactive materials to use with the ice.  Some of us chose to use eye droppers to collect melt water and pour if onto the large blocks.  We found that the melted water was warmer than the ice and could be used to create holes.  Some of us created icy arctic worlds to play with toy walruses penguins and polar bears.  Still others combined the two working with tools to melt the ice and make “ice cakes” for the polar bears to eat.  At the end we decided to save the ice that had not yet melted for later use.  One friend suggested we refreeze a bowl of melt water so we took it to the freezer to try.  We will check on it through out the day to see what the freezing process looks like. 

Some of us started a “bean journal” to document the growth of the beans we planted on Friday.  We took the bag down to closely observe the bean.  We noticed its shape, color and any patterns on its surface and tried to reproduce that in a drawing.  Next we wrote or dictated what we were observing. 

Some of us expressed interest in writing in books after seeing the bean journals, so we offered book making with stamps, markers and pastels at art center.  Several of us make our own book.

Breakfast– Whole wheat toast with butter and fresh pear.

Lunch– Whole wheat pasta with shredded pork and butter, banana, and frsh green beans/pepper.

PM snack– Whole milk yogurt with granola.

Wee Sprout– Fresh green beans and pepper.

Have a fantastic night!

-Wee Friends Teachers

Link to pictures: 2023-04-24

Good Afternoon!

We began our day after breakfast, climbing on the habi-trail.  Arthur and Hannah turned the ladder into a train and sat to take a ride.

We were busy in the rice and bird seed sensory table.  We used a variety of scoops to work on our scooping and pouring skills with the mixture.  Eliza even used her hands to scoop it up and watched in run through her fingers back into the table.

When the friends finished in the sensory table, the plastic bugs were out for them to explore or they worked at taking the shapes off or putting them back onto the stacker.

Before heading outside to play, we pulled out the big plastic blocks to climb on or stack together before sitting on them.

Breakfast:  Whole grain wheat bread toasted with butter and fresh apple slices.

Lunch:  Whole grain wheat macaroni with butter and shredded beef, fresh pear slices and carrots.

Afternoon Snack:  Whole milk yogurt and graham crackers.

Have a great evening!

Rebekah and Tina

Link to pictures:  https://1drv.ms/f/s!AtTCDmdhjIulls14S_gO8qIebg8T-A

Happy Friday!

This morning friends were engaged building with Duplos.  The friends worked to create tall building structures.

A friend was sad that she wasn’t going to see the doctor today with her sister.  So Miss Bekah went downstairs and found some patient gowns and scrubs for us to wear to enhance our doctor play so we could be doctors and patients to feel like we were going to see the doctor for a checkup.

We then headed outside to enjoy some fresh air and engage in our favorite activities.

Breakfast: Whole grain brown rice cakes with peanut butter and bananas.

Lunch: Turkey lunch meat on whole grain wheat bread, fresh oranges and peas.

Afternoon Snack:  Cheddar cheese slices and whole grain Goldfish crackers.

Wee Sprout: Cucumbers.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Rebekah and Tina

Link to pictures: 2023-04-21

Happy Friday!

Bo chose ‘The Story of Ferdinand’ for K/PREK1 group. Afterwards, we filled in our different webs based on various animal characteristics such as animals that have four legs or live in the water. Each group member added at least one animal to each web before our journal time.

K.4.2: Observe plants and animals, describing how they are alike and how they are different.

This week we have been watching a small plant project grow.  Some friends helped plant different kinds of seeds in test tubes to watch how the leaves and roots emerge.  As we have observed the growth we have noticed that the small seeds are producing small plants.  The large bean seed has been of special interest because it grew such a large plant so quickly.  We talked about how a large seed can hold a lot of nutrients which allows the plant to grow so fast.  Many friends asked if they could have the bean plant so we offered today for everyone interested to have the opportunity to grow their own bean plant.  We each created a small green house for our bean seed using a zip lock bag and wet paper towel.  We put our seed inside and taped it to the window.  We talked about how the sun would create heat and condensation inside the bag which the bean plant will like. 

Several of us made beautiful water color paintings today.  Some of us used abstract color block styles.  Bo created a large painting of a volcano surrounded by color.  Daniel made a page of colored “writing” that he said was for his grandmother!

In house keeping many of us enjoyed make believe baked goods using our sand dough to create all sorts of home made treats.

 

Breakfast– Brown rice cakes with peanut butter and fresh watermelon.

Lunch– Sliced chicken breast on whole wheat bread, fresh watermelon/pears, and fresh green beans.

PM snack– Cheddar block cheese and pretzels.

Wee Sprout– Fresh green beans.

Have a lovely weekend!

-Wee Friends Teachers

Link to pictures: 2023-04-21

Today we built cave habitats for bats.  This morning we made sand dough in the kitchen.  A few of us enjoyed helping with that.  We used the dough to build a cave.  We tried various ways to build a cave.  Some of us shaped it with our hands.  Others used a form to build on like a bowl.  Others used sticks for support.  We found we could poke our bats into the sand dough so they could hang upside down in the caves.  A few of us kept our imaginations going building  a bat castle.  We read some books about bats while we worked.  We learned about echolocation.  We also learned that bats don’t only live in caves, but can seek shelter in trees, barns or bat houses put up for them by their human neighbors.  We learned that they love to eat the mosquitos that we would all like to see less of, so they are helpful to have around. 

Enjoy a few more pictures from our day!

Breakfast- Whole grain cheerios and banana.

Lunch- Brown rice with shredded chicken, fresh pineapple, and fresh cucumber/pepper.

PM snack- Peanuts and whole wheat crackers.

Wee Sprout- Fresh cucumber/pepper.

Have a great night!

-Wee Friends Teachers

Link to pictures: 2023-04-20

Good Afternoon!

The friends were engaged in a variety of activities through out the classroom.  Emily and Paige engaged together in a book, Hannah rocked her stuffed animal, Eliza and Arthur enjoyed putting together wooden train cars, Ben was busy climbing on the habi-trail, Dax pushed the bulldozer around the front circle and Eleanor enjoyed her tummy time playing with her toys and interacting with Emily.

We headed into the kitchen for some water play.  We were given a cup of water, a bowl, a sponge and a plastic egg.  We worked on our pouring skills to pour the water into our bowls and some of us poured it back into the cup.  We then strengthened our hand muscles by squeezing the water from our sponge, that we used to soak up from our tray, into our bowl or cup.  When we put water into our plastic eggs, we noticed the water came out of the egg.  We looked closer and noticed holes at the end of it.  We enjoyed watching it stream out into our bowl or cup.

We then headed outside.  We were busy cooking in the housekeeping area with our pretend cookies, filling the bed of the dump truck full of sand, scooping rocks and sand with our shovel, putting Little People in the back of our truck and just spending time talking with a friend.

Breakfast: Whole grain Kix cereal and fresh pear slices.

Lunch: Whole grain brown rice with black beans, fresh watermelon and broccoli.

Afternoon Snack: Peanut Butter on whole grain Ritz crackers.

Have a terrific evening!

Rebekah and Tina

Link to pictures: 2023-04-20

Good Afternoon!

This morning we engaged in shaking shaker instruments and bells.  Friends were also singing the song, Jingle Bells.  Emily asked for the See The Bunnies Sleeping song.  Friends chose the animals they wanted to act out.  We acted out being bunnies, flamingos, hamsters, horses, lions and pigs.

We then headed into the kitchen for a sensory experience with playdough.  We were given pipe cleaners for the first time and golf tees to stick into our playdough.  We worked at manipulating the pipe cleaner to bend the way we wanted it to when we stuck it in the playdough.  We also used a hammer to pound the golf tees into it and used them for candles in our birthday cakes.

We then headed outside to engage in our favorite activities.

Breakfast: Overnight Oatmeal with cinnamon/sugar mixture and bananas.

Lunch: Farm fresh scrambled eggs, whole grain wheat bread with butter, peas and fresh oranges.

Afternoon Snack:  Whole grain wheat tortillas with hummus and watermelon.

Wee Sprout: Cucumbers.

Have a wonderful evening!

Rebekah and Tina

Link to pictures: 2023-04-19

Good Afternoon!

For kindergarten sign in, the three kindergarteners had to search throughout the environment to find animals that lay eggs, also known as oviparous animals. A few of the animals that children found were snake, lizard, alligator, and chicken!

K.4.2: Observe plants and animals, describing how they are alike and how they are different.

In K/PREK1 group, we read ‘The Tiny Seed’ which shows how a seed turns into a flower. We watched as seeds sailed throughout the sky, eventually settling on the ground, and blooming into a flower come spring time. Afterwards, we looked at a visual of the life cycle of a flower. Tomorrow, we’ll dive into flowers more! For now, children had to say aloud the name of a flower and a few flowers that were shared were tulip, rose, sunflower, and morning glory.

K.4.2: Observe plants and animals, describing how they are alike and how they are different.

To go along with our animal theme, we created a river habitat for imaginative play exploration.  We used tin foil to make a river through the middle of our tray to hold water.  Next we added gravel to create the banks.  We added plants and moss along the river edges.  Last we chose animals that might live in or around rivers.  Frogs and tadpoles could be added to the habitat.  We talked about how frogs lay eggs in water and a tadpole hatches from the egg.   The tadpole  must stay in the water at all times, but as it grows legs and lungs, it can start to come out of the water.  As an adult the frog can be both in and out of the water.  We used this information in our play.   Dragon flies were another animal we could choose for our river habitat.  We learned that dragon flies also lay their eggs in the water and live in water as larvae much like frogs and tadpoles.

We kept the ocean shore line habitat alive in the sensory bin today, using turkey basters to wet the gravel shore line.  We added animals that might live there like an octopus, a shark, a lobster and a sea turtle.  We talked about what kinds of animals might live in the water all of the time and which could live in both places.

Breakfast– Whole grain oatmeal with cinnamon and fresh apples.

Lunch– Farm fresh scrambled eggs with whole wheat flatbread, fresh watermelon, and fresh carrots/cucumber.

PM snack– Hummus and blue corn chips.

Wee Sprouts– Fresh carrots/cucumber.

Have a lovely evening!

-WF Teachers

Link to pictures: 2023-04-19