What We Did Wednesday!!

Just a glimpse of our day...

This Lock Box is a toy from the local lending library... I am so happy to have found it, and that our community has it. To buy this box would be $50 or $60... something I can't afford. The kids loved it. They kept hiding little things in there for each other to find. Ry found Kitty's... what a surprise :)

Our Hairy Potatoes needed some watering today... I am hoping they are getting enough sunshine... it seems my house has overhangs that help shield the windows from direct sunlight... we might have to move them outside each day for a Sun Bath :)

We finally got to make our Greenhouses. The kids enjoyed making them. We began at Circle Time talking about how plants grow... in soil, with water and sun. Then we talked about what would happen if we planted a seed without soil. I showed them the Greenhouse Ms Dana made for us and we took some guesses on if the bean was going to grow in the paper towel of not.

(and yes, those are Snowmen still in my window :) They are draft protectors and I am to lazy to put them up)

Some patterning fun, while we pick out our cool greenhouse decorations

bug, flower, bug, flower, bug, flower... to cute

concentration

This is what they look like on the back door... I just hope the sun gets to them or they will have to be moved too... I may just have to send them home, we will have to see.

I put the finger paints out today... sometimes it is fun to just spread, squish, splat, and explore paint. No need for paper, just explore, swipe it away and do it again... the messy hands are just a bonus :)

You know what, I was thinking today that I have hardly any Spring or Summer books. I looked for a book to go with our Greenhouse activity but in all my books, I couldn't find one. So, if anyone has any ideas or a link to a good list of books I should get for a Spring (growing, plants, roots) Theme, I would greatly appreciate it. For someone who has a ton of books, I can't seem to find this section (which means it is probably stashed away somewhere all together, or I accidentally lost a box of books in our move). So, I need to get some more. Thanks to all!!!

Hairy Potato, Stunts, & Swings

Today we started our Plant Theme... Hairy the Potato, was our project today. The kids were so excited to complete this activity. We started out with a baking potato, cut the top (or bottom, whichever way you look at it) off, then dug out a hole (adult help needed here!!!). We then glued on eye, nose and a mouth (I used a hot glue gun for this, they told me where and they placed their pieces on the potato). We talked about what Hairy might be missing... hum... "Hair!!" someone yelled out. So we brainstormed on how we could get hair to grow in the hole... "Yarn," "Crazy Paper," (the paper we used on our kites) and " Spaghetti" were all great ideas :) Then I offered to let them take some of the grass seed that we used on the lawn this weekend to see if we could grow some hair. "Like our own hair!!" Princess Girl said, "My hair grew after I cut it with the scissors, see."

(Don't you just love the stage when they forget how to smile)

We thought they came out pretty neat... I thought Hairy was a good name, but each of the kids came up with their own name... like, Grassy, Tater, & Henry (ok, who knows where that came from???)

It is supposed to rain tomorrow, so we decided to spend our morning outside enjoying the beautiful weather. The kids loved the new sand pit... they spent a lot of time transferring sand from the box to the pit. Then they decided that the pit was high enough to use as a Stunt Pad. So, Stunts were being performed for a very long time. I always find it amazing that jumping, off anything, can be so satisfying to children. They jumped, got back in line, waited their turn, jumped again, over and over, for the better part of a hour. Amazing...

Little Miss M showed us how she could "swing" on the big kids swing today. I am not sure if this is something she learned over the weekend or she just "got" it today. She has been experimenting, practicing and playing on the big swings for awhile now. She has wanted to move the swing, while on her belly, since she can't actually get herself on the swing yet. The kids have been showing her how to do it, going as far as manipulating her feet to push off with. But, she just hadn't made the connection until today. I will have to ask Mom & Dad if they practiced over the weekend.

Despite how this photo looks, she was very proud of herself!!! I just caught her as she looked up from her work, so I think she was a little perturbed with me for bothering her.

The big girls were cheering her on!!!

We will be making our Greenhouses tomorrow, another activity the kids are excited about. I decided not to tell them what the seeds were... we are going to plant some in a cup and some in the "Greenhouses" and see what happens. It should be a lot of fun around here for the next couple of weeks... watching everything at their different stages of growth.

What a Monday!!

Great to be back this Monday morning!! Our family had a busy, busy weekend... baseball, haircuts, new sneakers, birthday celebrations, and the never ending mound of laundry my family generates :)

Earth Day is a special day for our family... our son Luke was born on Earth Day, 9 years ago. What a wonderful day to be born. We try to do something nice for Luke and the Earth on that day :) Today began our exploration of the Earth, how we can celebrate the Earth, and how the Earth helps us all grow. I purchased a Round Raised Garden Kit from Walmart for $18 this weekend after seeing Ms Debbie's kids, over at Once Upon a Day in Preschool, playing in the soil, planting flowers and watering them. It seemed like such a simple activity and the kids seem to enjoy it. Well... it was simple and our kids LOVED it!! Dirt + Water always = Fun!!!

Adding water to the day just made everything better.

We had some holes in the ground (from past digging adventures) that just needed to be filled!!

Adding a small water table to capture some of the water was a lot of fun in itself. It was continually refilled and the kids had fun splashing as well as filling their watering cans.

"Planting" some flowers

Fascination

Working Together

Hard at work...

I figure that the pretend flowers are good practice for planting the real think. We will discuss what we should plant, make a list and then take a field trip to the local nursery this week to buy our flowers, plants, or veggies... what ever we decide on.



On another note... Little Miss M may have to be changed to Big Girl Miss M because she reached a big milestone today... Can you guess?

Yup... she moved out of her crib onto a Big Girl Cot!!! Her Mom and Dad brought her to the store to pick out her very own sheet, pillow and blanket. Today was our baby's big day and she did great!! I can't believe how fast the time goes. I remember the day her Dad brought her to spend her very first day with us. It seems like yesterday. Now, she's in a cot... and LOVED it!! I am so proud of her!!