Learning Some New Vegetables!

This morning in The Touch and Feel pool, the kids explored seed packets for vegetables to grow in the garden. There were all different kinds of seeds.....some were big, others were little.  We talked about the pictures on the fronts of the packets, and whether or not we like to eat those vegetables.

Today was Ms. Danielle's first Young Athletes class. Sadly, the wet weather kept us inside....but that didn't slow us down any!  The kids practiced running and jumping. First, they each jumped on 3 lily pads, ran to the next set, and then jumped on 3 more lily pads. The most exciting thing to watch was that the whole class cheered when each friend took their turn. A true representation of sportsmanship!  Then we had a relay race. The kids took turns running from one hula hoop to another to collect bean bags before running back. It was a great first class!

 Miss Stacey was here for music today.  We started out the week by learning a new word - crescendo - which means starting quiet and getting louder.  We practiced making crescendos with our voices during the hello song this week.  Next, we learned the words to The Garden Song, and used it to practice keeping a steady beat.  This week, we played lots of different instruments - drums, wood blocks, sticks, jingles, and cabasas.  Following the beat all together was tricky when there were different sounds, but when we took turns trying with just friends playing the same instruments, you could hear the beat coming together!  We ended up the day with a circle game that used the big stretchy rope.  Our song had two verses - in the first one everyone moved together, and in the second, the kiddos took turns being the "farmer" in the middle of the circle.  Our farmers did a great job remembering their motions to go with the song!  Finally, we ended up with a goodbye song and took one more chance to practice singing with crescendos.

Our story today was "Growing Vegetable Soup." A family plants, waters and watches the seeds grow in their garden. Once they pick their tomatoes, potatoes, cabbage and corn...they cook all the vegetables together to make the best vegetable soup! We reviewed where the different vegetables grow in the garden...above the ground, below the ground or around a vine, and learned some new vegetable names....some of them pretty funny!

Mr. Jon came after lunch today. After warming ups, the kids had to use their balance to cross the floor and only walk inside the hula hoops so they didn't touch the ground. Then Mr. Jon set up a big balance beam for the kids to practice crossing. We played a new game called "What time is it?" The kids listened to Mr. Jon say different times and they got to take the number of jumps that matched the time (2:00 = 2 jumps). When Mr. John said midnight, all the kids had to run back to the starting line. Our practice skill today was arabesque. The kids stood straight up and spread out their arms wide. Then they leaned forward and lifted one leg backwards. The last activity was a puppet show about an octopus trying to eat 3 fishies.

Tomorrow we will be going to Harris Teeter. Everyone has a new Speech Garden shirt in their book bag. Please wear it to school TOMORROW for our Out and About trip!

How Do Vegetables Grow?

The Touch and Feel pool was full of vegetables this morning.  The kiddos had so much fun exploring and pretending with yellow squash, green peppers, orange carrots, and corn.  There was a whole lot of talk about which ones were our favorites and which ones we didn't like....but we agreed that all vegetables are healthy!

Ms. Michelle was here again today.  We started the session with an obstacle course.  First each child picked a sea animal bean bag to take through the fish tunnel (appropriately named because it looks like a fish....with eyes and everything!) and place in a bucket.  Then, they each picked a frog or a fish weighted animal to take to the next stop.  But, they had to move like the animal they choose....so, hopping for frogs, and swimming for fish.  The last step was to walk sideways on a long balance beam.  Two turns each....and lots of multi-step directions and motor planning exercise!  Finger fun divided into three rotating groups.  One group had items hidden in balls of play-do.  They had to find all the gems and then re-hide them.  One group had magnetic building blocks.  They were designing helicopters and trains and tall, tall, towers.  The last group had some sensory sticks to explore.  Some lit up, some made noise, and some were full of beads like a rain stick.

Today's book was The Surprise Garden by Zoe Hall.  This story is about a group of children who plant seeds for a surprise garden.  They don't know what they will grow until the plants start to sprout.  They loosen the soil, pike the seeds in one by one, water the garden, and watch the small green shoots grow.  Then....surprise!!  The gardeners find carrots and radishes, broccoli and cauliflower, peas, beans, squash, and even a sunflower!!  When it's finally harvest time, the children have a garden party to eat all their delicious vegetables!

For our language activity, we talked about how vegetables grow.  Some grow under the ground....like carrots and radishes.  Some grow on long vines.....like pumpkins.  Some grow close to the ground.....like broccoli and cauliflower.  Some grow on tall plants....like corn and tomatoes.  We drew a chart to help us remember.....and we learned some new vegetable names in the process.

Art today was super messy....but really fun!  We took the vegetables from the Touch and Feel pool and cut them up.....and used them for painting.  The corn was easily the class favorite....rolling it across the paper.....and sometimes around on the table.....made a really cool design.  The peppers were good for stamping out patterns.....and we even ended up with some seeds on our papers.  The carrots made smaller designs, but we could hold them like pencils and "write" in the paint.  Sorry, if your kiddos came home with paint on their clothes (or in their hair), being creative usually means getting messy!!

Lowe's Out and About

There were so many cute pictures from today....We had a blast at Lowe's. We took tons of picture of the kids exploring and completing the scavenger hunt. If you click the picture below...you can see all our pictures on smugmug.