The Great Outdoors

It's a beautiful day to explore nature, so we made some bird feeders out of flat bread, peanut butter, and birdseed. The children have called the birds but so far they have not answered.

We also set up a little camp fire with our logs and chairs. The children found some sticks and "roasted marshmallows" while talking about life. The main topic was growing older and food!

Blueberry Muffins

Yum! The preschool class has flour, muffin tins, bowls, and "blueberries" in our sensory table. The children have been mixing and stirring and making delicious blueberry treats all day! We are reading Blueberries For Sal and it has been inspiring our cooking.

Insect Journals

For the past month we have been learning about insects: about their body parts, number of legs, life cycles, etc.  We have been watching roly polies, june bugs, and ants on our playground and we brought caterpillars into the classroom to watch as they became butterflies.  We read The Hungry Caterpillar, Bugs, Bugs, Bugs, Miss Spider's Tea Party, and The Grouchy Ladybug.  It has been exciting and the children have been thrilled to learn about these tiny things, especially the "gross" and "stingy" ones.

Throughout the month we have journaled about our experiences with insects.  Here are a few I wanted to share:

"I drawed him six legs.  That means he's a insect."  Sophia, age 4

Owen, age 5 (Owen wanted to make the Hungry Caterpillar with the right colors, so he got out the book, did some research, and made his drawing.)

Maddie, age 3    "Firefly"  (I love his little firefly light!)

Carrot Seed

The Bears have been busy learning about planting seeds and growing carrots this week. We have been reading The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss each day and planting wooden carrots in our sensory tubs. The children planted real carrot seeds and now we are waiting patiently for them to grow. The children have also enjoyed painting with carrots and tasting baby carrots.

Field Trip!

Yesterday was our first Saturday field trip and it was a big success! Half of the Bear Class was able to join us at Cabela's for a tour and scavenger hunt. We were looking for the animals from Baby Bear, Baby Bear What Do You See? By Eric Carle. Our tour guide took us to see the fish and all of the animals and taught us some interesting facts along the way.

Twelve Little Kittens

Yesterday the Bears assembled kitten masks using google eyes, pom poms, pipe cleaners, and triangles. Some kittens ended up with 14 eyes or 12 noses but they are awesome nonetheless. Today they got to act out the story of The Three Little Kittens while I read the book.

Cool Fingerpaint

Mrs. Cathy discovered a new way to fingerpaint on Pinterest and couldn't wait to try it. You just add a packet of Frosting Creation to a container of Cool Whip and mix it together. The Bumblebee Class made peppermint and the Bears tried caramel. Both were delicious and a big hit with the children. The Bears wanted to make tracks in their paint like Peter from The Snowy Day!