Sunday, October 27, 2013


Spiders and A Hike

The M/W group made a visit to the Lookout Mountain Nature Center, where our focus was, "What do animals do when it gets cold outside?"  Below, the children gather in the pretend "nest" at the center.



There were many items for us to explore, including several animal pelts . . .


The children were anxious to explore the outdoors, so off we set on a hike!



A cool bridge . . .



We discovered LOTS of animal footprints in the damp ground - mostly deer.



I was impressed at the children's enthusiasm and energy.  We hiked pretty much one whole mile!


We were so lucky to have such a beautiful day!


We stopped halfway to eat our lunch - everyone had a god rock to sit on.


We consulted our map . . .



On the shadier part of the hike we actually found a bit of snow.


I pointed out lichen and moss on some of the rocks to the children.  We also noted that the dominant trees there are the Ponderosa Pine, which have very long needles.


Gotta climb some rocks!


We looked under rocks for bugs.


It was nice to enter a more forested area later.


We had some time to explore the Boettcher gazebo.


Happy and engaged children!



Once back inside we discussed what we saw and further explored the exhibits.  Jack is holding a stuffed version of the black squirrel we saw.


There were lots of books and resources to peruse.


We looked at an actual deer hoove to compare to the prints we saw outside.


Meanwhile, our T/Th group talked about spiders!  Below, we made an edible version using "peanut butter play dough."


We learned that spiders have 8 legs and used pretzel sticks to represent them . . .


Spiders have lots of eyes too!



An educational-sticky-fun-yummy experience!


We also drew spiders.


It has been lovely to observe more cooperative play develop.  After initially wanting to knock down her  block towers ( typical boy!) Sinh joined in on building with Molly!


And. . . over in the kitchen, Jackson and Lucas cook together!



A fabulous week!

Saturday, October 19, 2013

Fall Leaves, Potions and . . . Warm Toast!


After reading a fun story about a witch who puts all sorts of odd things in her caldron, the M/W group had an opportunity to mix many substances together, one at a time, to see how they affect each other in a mixture - a great little science experiement!





Mine's bubbling...


Hazel and Jack thought it'd be neat to mix theirs together.


We had an "organized" group art project this week with gluing faces on pumpkins - the younger children are still learning how to USE the glue - they'd rather use it as a marker.  I have begun tutoring them on this, by modeling where to put the glue and then we press down on the paper and count to 5 to make sure the features stick to the pumpkin!


Good job, Molly!


. . . and Hazel.


We called attention to all the shapes of the face.



Jack is doing SO well at writing the letters of his name!!




On a chilly day, the T/Th group made toast.  We had a bit of the bread before it was toasted and then talked about how the bread changes after it goes in the toaster - crunchy, warm . . . good opportunity to answer some questions with descriptive language.




The children were able to exercise skills with utensils as they spread butter or peanut butter on the toast.





We took a walk to collect some fall leaves.  Sinh discovered a tiny ant home...



We like this little tree and visit it on every walk - all of its leaves are already off.


So many things are changing outside . . .


STICKS!


Later we sorted our leaves by color and shape.


Good friends . . .


Jackson LOVES to "hide" under the small slide.


The M/W group congregated around the salt table.


They decided to play "birthday" and sang happy birthday at least 10 times.


Jack enjoyed making pairs out of my Old Maid deck and then lined them up and counted them.


Colin enjoyed some quiet time in the tent we made.


Some of us are getting more accustomed to enjoying having some good, clean messy fun!




Colin wrote his name in the shaving cream.


A T/Th picture!


When we clean the table, it is another opportunity to stretch our arms wide as we wipe the table back and forth - continued exercise for crossing the mid-line.


Colin helped Hazel to put the 5 Little Pumpkins in the proper sequence.


A great week with lots of accomplishments!