Learning Outside ! OH YEAH!

What a beautiful wonderful fantastic ( any more great adjectives I can throw in there ) day it has been today. Days like this renew my spirit and make my heart smile. When the weather is warmer many days we meet the kids outside in the fence to get a little play time outside before we head in for breakfast. Today, when it was time all I heard we GROANS..... So, I smiled and said " Ok, lets go in to eat breakfast and then we will decide where we want to play." If course, after the kids wolfed down their english muffins , green apples and milk they were ready to head back to the play yard. I grabbed our theme box and out we went !

My day did start with this HUGE bow made from newspaper that Mary ( Williams mom ) made for me. Everyone else got paper hats yesterday and she knows how I am about hats so she made me this bow ! CUTE!

The kids LOVE this little toy that Kayla is playing with . I think it is called a " Pop-up." You pop the ball up and try to catch it in the basket part as it comes down.

Randy also took out the parachute. I found my parachute book . Did you know that just like any other teaching aid there is a METHOD for using a parachute. There are 8 sessions. The first one we did today . ( Up until this point I guess Randy just let them bounce balls in it.) The lesson today was teaching the " thumbs up" grip. Some of the games in the book call for thumbs up others for thumbs down. So, we practiced thumbs up and sang " Where is Thumbkin" while we did it. Then we practiced " the wave." The wave is created simply by going up and down with our arms in the thumbs up position. We tried it fast and slow and listening when the teacher calls freeze. The kids loved it.

Periodically I would ring the bell two short times. That was a call for the children to come to the porch and talk or read or sing. Randy was getting lunch on the table during this time so Geneviette took a picture of me reading . I think she may grow up to be a photographer. She handed me the camera and said " I took two. I took one of Nolan and Dillion." When I looked at the pictures I smile. What a sweet picture to take of the boys.

We can see rainbows on demand !

Kimber is going to be so excited come May. We will be doing a huge Farm unit. Today he was playing with the tractor on the porch . I loved the way he had his food in the trailer pulling it.

And last but not least... You do know that leprechauns will run away if you blink. So, we practiced staring.

Here is your Friday Flick.

# 2 We'll get you !

The kids have been admiring our number 2 pinata all week. Today we filled it with candy ( tricky way to get the rest of that Halloween candy out of my house ) and we took turns taking 2 swings until it busted. Finally , we let our friend Nolan hit it until it bust ! SO much fun and learning at the same time. After it was opened and we all scrambled for the candy, we we allowed to eat 2 pieces.. just two. I said one but Mr. Randy reminded me that we were talking about the number two , so....

and now for Friday flicks ! One video was taken on our walk as Mrs. Jody helped Malia count out ten leaves. Most kids can count to ten but being able to count out ten objects is all together different - and more important ! The second video is of an impromptu doctors office set up and some conversation there. ( I think this was initiated by Audrey who had a new little brother born on Monday. )

Fruit Salad.. Yummy Yummy !

Today we talked about fruit and vegetables. This year I have a group of kids that LOVE fresh veggies. One day when we were making a list for a shopping trip for snack their first request was cucumbers. Just last night Geneviette was asked what she wanted for dessert and her choice was ice cream, strawberries and olives !

Today we tasted 10 different fruits that aren't on our menu on a consistent basis. They were FRESH pineapple, watermelon, cantaloupe, plum, pomegranate, mango, fresh peach, kiwi, fresh pear and a nectarine. Some of these such as pears, peaches and pineapples we have often but usually they are canned. If you have never had a FRESH pineapple, you are missing out. WOW! It is like eating a piece of candy.

We graphed who liked what and then compared them. Lots of counting and estimating went on. We were able to use the terms least and most..... those are two terms on our assessments that many kids miss.

Have you seen these nifty pineapple cutters. They are like the small apple corer. cutter type utensils. Love it !

Have the kids mentioned to you that we have new trikes ? We have made an order of over 1000.00 to buy some new equipment and 4 trikes were part of that. They are loving it !

Other fun going on outside.

All in a days work....

Hurry Hurry Drive the Fire Truck

This week we are learning about " People that Keep us Safe in Our Community". When I asked the kids who they think keeps us safe , they typically said " mom and dad." I think that is a pretty fair answer ! Today we focused on fire fighters in anticipation of our trip to the fire station tomorrow night at 6:30. 6:30--- not 6:00 like I thought.

In circle time we read this cute book about little and big alphabets that drive a fire truck!

We also sung the song, " Hurry Hurry Drive the Fire Truck" . The KIDS LOVE THIS SONG!

Here is a video of the song so you can enjoy it at home too !

We didnt watch this video but I am sure your child would love to watch it with you!

Then we learned to STOP, DROP and ROLL!

We learned to STAY LOW AND GO ( under the smoke ).

Lots of pretend fireman play in the fire truck outside today!

Silly Boys!

Randy made an obstacle course outside. He talked about how the fireman sometimes have to climb through or crawl under things when they are fighting fires. The kids had a lot of fun with this.


Today was muffin tin Monday!

More STAY LOW AND GO with the younger ones !

We talked about 911 and even painted it with orange paint that we made. We practiced dialing 911 and I reminded them we ONLY do it in an emergency.

We mixed red and yellow paint to get orange like FIRE!

There are many books about fire fighters out to be read this week.

Mommies of girls ! Did you know I have a tin in the room if you need to get a barret or headband or pony tail before you leave in the afternoon. Many of the girls yank whatever is in their hair out during the day. They are very difficult to keep up with , but you are welcome to take one of ours on the way out ! I went shopping this weekend and restocked. The blue tin is on the parent resource table behind the door.