April 5th, 6th & 9th, 2018

Oct 23

Written By Anine Booton Booton

Monday, April 9, 2018

Hello!

Here is some info for you about our Thursday, Friday, and Monday activities.

Thanks for reading and have a great evening!

Anine: )

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Thursday, Friday, and Monday Activities…

Seeds & Plants:

Thursday and Friday, we continued with fun activities having to do with Seeds and Plants. Thursday the kids planted watermelon seeds, and Friday they planted sugar snap peas. Thursday we also put a handful of green bean seeds onto a very wet paper towel on a plate to try and “force” them to sprout quickly. We checked on them twice Thursday, a couple of times on Friday, and again Monday morning. Friday the seeds looked like they were about to burst open but didn’t actually sprout, but this morning several had sprouted, so that was neat for the kids to see without any soil in the way. Thursday the kids got to water their green bean seeds and their sunflower seeds that they planted in cups earlier in the week. Friday, we read books that tied in with our topic, we talked about the parts of a plant (roots, stem, leaves and flower) and we started a craft “What Plants Need” (sunlight, air, soil, and water). The kids loved that they got to do some craft-related painting (before breakfast, even!) on Friday, and today (Monday) we hope to finish that craft.

“Seed, Seed, Sprout!”:

Friday, we played a game the kids enjoyed. It was a variation of “Duck, Duck, Goose!” called “Seed, Seed, Sprout!” All but one of the kids sat in a circle as if getting ready to play “Duck, Duck, Goose!” The person who was “it” was called the “Gardener” and got to carry an empty, cute little plastic watering can. The person walked around their circle of seeds, watering each one, and said “Seed” to each one. When the Gardener decided to say “Sprout!” the “little seed” had to stay in place, and then in slow motion, ‘sprout’ into a flower. After they sprouted, they got a turn to be the Gardener. The kids liked that. We also played “Duck, Duck Goose!” and “Ring Around the Rosie”.

Art Activities:

The kids have had the chance to use a number of art supplies Thursday, Friday and Monday. Crayons, colored pencils, magic markers, dot paints, glue sticks, and scissors, to name a few.

Books We Read, Songs:

Some of the books we read included * The Tiny Seed * If You Plant A Seed * Inch by Inch * Superworm * In the Small, Small, Pond * The Earth Book * National Geographic Kids Animal Ark (the photography book by Joel Sartore) * Peas Grow Up * Are You a Ladybug? * “Alphabet” by Matthew Van Fleet * The Usborne Book of Bible Stories: Noah’s Ark.

We did some singing, too, on Monday, and enjoyed trying to sing along to the “Arky-Arky” song (about Noah’s Ark) while listening to it via YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4r78BLBszQ0

Deck/Backyard:

Thursday afternoon it was so nice out! One group of friends spent some time in the backyard after rest, and everyone got to spend some time on the deck enjoying water play with toys, bubble water, and paint brushes.

Fairy Garden:

The kids had some fun building Fairy Gardens today! I found lots of Fairy houses, Gnomes, Fairies, and accessories at the Dollar Tree not long ago and grabbed a bunch of those for the kids. I also got the kids some fun flower-pot-like containers to use and went through our big “Dramatic Play: Flower Shop” container to collect lots of small “silk” flower blooms, greenery and leaves for them to use as they designed the environments for their little Fairy and Gnome characters.

Praying Mantises, Ladybugs:

We are expecting a praying mantis egg case to arrive in the mail today or tomorrow, along with a tube of live ladybug larvae. Over the next few weeks we hope to do some reading and observing and to learn more about these insects.

Other Fun:

The older kids have been enjoying working a little bit on their “homework” each day. Everyone has enjoyed the classroom space and bringing favorite toys upstairs to make temporary “areas” in the living room and hallway.

Thursday, Friday and Monday Meals…

Thursday Meals:

Breakfast was cinnamon toast waffles, bananas, and milk.

Lunch was pizza (hamburger, mozzarella, pizza sauce, pizza crust), steamed “Bird’s Eye Protein Blends: Italian Style” (“whole grains, lentils, spinach, broccoli and white beans with a garlic parmesan sauce”), diced red grapes, Oat-Nut bread/butter, and milk.

Snack was Triscuit crackers, American cheese, diced carrot sticks, cauliflower, broccoli, cucumber, cherry tomato, and organic apple juice.

Friday Meals:

Breakfast was chocolate chip waffles, bananas, and milk.

Lunch was pork chops, steamed peas, applesauce, whole-grain cinnamon-raisin bread/butter, and milk.

Snack was “Scrabble” Cheez-Its, Wheat Thins, Kraft Colby cheese slices, and organic apple juice.

Monday Meals:

Breakfast was homemade French toast (Country White bread, eggs, milk, Karo maple syrup), Hormel maple sausage links, bananas and skim milk.

Lunch was hamburger pizza (beef, mozzarella, pizza sauce, pizza crust), steamed corn, fresh blackberries, Original Cheerios, and skim milk.

Snack was Wheat Thins crackers, Colby cheese slices, Gourmet Smokehouse summer sausage slices, and apple juice.

Links:

Watermelon Seeds:

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Burpee-Watermelon-Jubilee-Seed-55514/204729794