Birds of a Feather

With the numerous birds that fly above, the week centered on birds was a hands-on week.  We identified many birds in the neighborhood and observed them up close.  We even had a bird come right up to the window while we were singing songs about birds.  We learned interesting facts about birds and discussed their habitats and life cycle.  Birds truly are fascinating creatures all around us.

 The children were so proud when they did the big dinosaur puzzle (among many other puzzles they pieced together that morning).

 Avah & Abie were on a flower hunt while the rest of us were on a bird hunt.  We saw many many birds around the pond and almost as many flowers.

 Kooper intently painting his birdhouse.

 Camden practicing putting letters in alphabetical order.

 Gideon and Thomas using the letter boards for building.

 Kooper playing I spy with letters.

 Abie inspecting a baby bird egg.

 Camden adding more pizazz to his birdhouse.

 Kooper's art project bird.  

 Thomas attempting to keep a bird feather afloat in the air. 

 The children love to play the piano....

and they love to conduct music as well.

What's Cooking?

My kitchen smelled delicious this week as we made pizza, french toast, rainbow smoothies and cookies (the somewhat healthy kind).  We talked about eating healthy foods, especially from the colors of the rainbow and how we get the food we eat.  The children were all very enthused about cooking and did a wonderful job.  They browsed through cookbooks, made menus for me and even helped clean-up after eating their delicious lunches.

 Creative, resourceful, collaborative kids working together on this contraption of sorts.

 Kooper practicing to jump rope.

 Thomas playing in the house.

 Camden's cheese pizza extraordinare.

 Avah measuring the flour for the pizza dough just right.

 The children watching the amazing process of flour and water (and a few other ingredients) turn to dough.

 Gooey dough and lots of flour=super fun (and messy) pizza making time.

 Gideon eagerly anticipating his first bite of his pizza creation.

 Dress-up fun

 Checking out the progress of our plants.

 Thomas getting ready for the secret in a sack.

 Cutting out pictures of healthy foods 

 Thomas cracking an egg for the french toast we ate.  They all loved cracking eggs.

Taking the cooking theme into playtime where they made me some fabulous soup.

Furry Friends

We had a fabulous week talking about our furry friends, mainly dogs and cats.  We learned all about the features these animals have that help them and we even chose our very favorite cats and dogs.  The children spent their playtime as vets or dogs being taken care of by the vet.  We found a few dogs in the neighborhood that we said hi to on our walk/run around the pond but never spotted a single cat.  

 Abie counting out whiskers for her cat.

 Camden making bead bracelets.

 Working hard outside.

 

 The boys and their hula hoop "force fields".

 

 Gideon's cat picture.

 Abie and Gideon dancing together.

 Kooper counting out dog bones.

 Everyone working hard on their morning "dog" centers. Gideon & Thomas sorted, counted and graphed dog bones.  Abie & Kooper matched the right dog bone symbols with the correct number and Avah matched the colored word to the correct dog bowl-she did great at deciphering the color words with very little help.

 

 Cutest kids ever! 

 Flowers for mom.

They are all so proud of their art project puppets, so of course a puppet show had to follow. 

 The puppy puppet show!

 Playing with play dough- one of their favorite rainy day activities.

Happy Easter

I love this time of year!  The children are excited (but not too excited) about the Easter holiday and are eager to learn anything and everything they can about it.  We talked about Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection and what a special holiday this is to remember these sacred things.  We made resurrection rolls for snacks and I loved hearing them exclaim, "They're empty just like Jesus' tomb".  We also talked about bunnies and eggs and the new life that they represent.  Little Bunny Foo Foo is a favorite song we sang quite a bit.  We hid eggs over and over again and played "Don't Eat Peep".  The weather was gorgeous so we spent a little extra time outside checking on our plants, running, jumping like bunnies and observing the ducks and birds at the pond.  

Searching to match the uppercase and lowercase eggs.

 S is for success!

 The children love to run to the very edge of the grass and run super fast and hop over a little ditch in the grass.  A few rounds of this and I know their outside time has been productive.

 Working hard on our Easter bunny's.  This is one of those cute ideas I saw on pinterest that turned out to be a complete disaster.  The children were so patient throughout the process and we eventually created something resembling a bunny. 

 This amazing plant appears dead but after a few hours is a thriving green plant.  It's called the Resurrection Plant for good reason.

 The children love to see how they measure up.  They have all grown quite a bit since school started in September.

 Abie having fun with our number tiles.

 And the hunt is on!

 Thomas so excited to decorate eggs.

Camden worked hard to get his eggs vibrantly colored just right.

Spring has Sprung

 Spring is here!!  I love spring and I especially love teaching preschoolers about spring.  They are full of wonder and excitement and remind me that the world truly is a glorious place.  I don't have pictures of Tuesday's class as the computer and the photo card were in the shop (that's what happens when you put the photo card in the wrong spot in the computer).  We planted flowers, talked about the changing seasons, acted out animals waking up after their long winter's nap, went on a spring walk and used our five senses to decipher the changing world of springtime, used our thumbs in ink pads to create pictures of flowers, butterflies and animals, and used baskets full of flowers to decorate the preschool room for playtime.  

 Thomas practicing fine motor skills by weaving.

The seeds have been sown!  Perhaps this year we will be successful gardeners.

 Camden showing off his pot.  He still has lettuce growing from last fall!

 Kooper playing in the dirt.

 Kooper and Avah's dirty hands that you can't help but love (and rush to get the soap and water).

 Gideon's popcorn tree.

Taking a break from eating lunch to talk about the world.  The maps in the kitchen are discussed frequently.