Farm, puddles, bugs, BRIT, and zoo!

We're continuing our farm theme this week and next, as there is just SO much we want to learn about.  I made this sorting game board for our plastic farm animals this week, and the kiddos sorted animals and seeds on it.

 We did a lot of piggy activities this week, including Piggie Pie! by Margi Palatini at the listening center, and the Wee Little Piggies memory game.

 This was an exciting game, especially when someone remembered all five piggies in order to make the "This little piggy went to market" song play all the way through!

 We also practiced planting seeds like farmers, putting in hundreds of beans, chard, beets and kale seeds this week.  There's still more to go, and we'll keep working on it.  One of our youtube.com videos this week was a time lapse video of beans growing, so we're hoping that by Monday our plants will be sprouting, and we can watch them grow in real time!  I'm also hoping we'll have lots of yummy fresh veggies to eat this summer, there really isn't anything quite like picking vegetables fresh off the plant and popping them in our mouths - yum!

This week we had two different field trips.  The first group of kiddos went to Bella's Storytime at the Botanic Research Institute of Texas.  I've mentioned this story time before - it's the best story time I've ever been to!  This month we listened to the story The Great Fuzz Frenzy by Janet Stevens (see it on Amazon here), and did lots of fuzzy activities.

 We counted fuzzy pompons, sorted items by how fuzzy they were, painted with fuzzy things, and made fuzzy creations, as well as dancing with fluffy balls of fuzz.  We love Bella's Storytime!

 Another group of kiddos went to the zoo to see the giant animatronic insects.  Most of them loved it, but one kiddo isn't in any of these photos, because he was hiding behind me each time.  There's nothing quite like a 20 foot tall moving tarantula to make some of us nervous!

  I wasn't really expecting these insects to be very educational, just an extra thing to see between other animal exhibits at the zoo.  I was wrong!  Seeing the insects so much larger than life allowed the children to see some of the adaptations that make them great hunters or flyers.  On the dragonfly we could see the spikes on it's legs, and how it held its legs in a basket shape for catching mosquitoes.  We like them helping us with mosquitoes!

 When the ladybug opened it's wings, we could see that the red parts are stiff wing covers, there to protect the flimsy brown flying wings below.  It's very hard to see that on a real ladybug, but we had plenty of time to check it out on these.

I planned to take one more group of kiddos to the zoo, but we had a very rainy day, and it was not good zoo weather.  Luckily, there was a break in the rain, and we were able to go puddle stomping.  The children were so excited!  We took our shoes and socks off, rolled up our pants, and ventured out with bare feet.

 The children stomped and splashed in puddles....

...found bugs and snails in the soil....

 ... and ran around and around the circle planter in our cul-de-sac.

 Walking barefoot in the rain and stomping in puddles is one of those things that I believe every child needs to do sometimes, but it's often hard to find the right time for it.  As adults, we're so often rushing from place to place or chore to chore, that these moments can slip right by us.  Today we really did stop to smell the roses... covered in rain drops.

 Here we all are, damp but happy.  Yes, we did need a lot of baby wipes and towels afterwards.  And yes, we will definitely be ready to do this again!

Here are a few more pictures of the fun and learning we enjoyed this week:  painting...

 ...cleaning the table with shaving cream after we finished painting...

 ... learning on the ipad - I love how focused these children are, and that they are helping each other.  It's great to see the children working together to help each other learn!

... playing outside - of course!...

 ...checking out the cool caterpillar I found (but can't identify)...

 ...looking for roly pollies and other critters...

 ...and enjoying a picnic in the backyard.

Farm centers and other fun

Last week I asked the children what activities they most enjoy doing at school.  Field trips, cooking, reading and sensory play were all favorite activities - as was nap time!  I guess by the time we've done all those other things, we're all pretty worn out, and ready to rest and recharge.

I was surprised that the kiddos didn't seem to have strong feelings about what to learn about next.  Sure, dinosaurs, vehicles, and dancing came up as themes, but the children were just as enthusiastic about everything else I suggested too.  Lucky for me, one of my families has a small farm, and we're planning to visit soon to see the animals - and there's a fantastic and fun theme for us.

I put out lots of farm puzzles for my friends to work on, as well as some farm themed listening centers, and of course, a bunch of fun farm songs on youtube.com for our singing and dancing time in the morning.  We worked on the farm part of abcmouse.com with the ipads, which the children are all very eager to use.  We've made our avatars, learned how to push the x button to close pop up windows, found the home button and the back button.  I'm so glad I added a second ipad for our class to use!

 

I created a sensory bin with farm animal sorting and counting.  The children love digging in the beans, it feels so good to run our fingers through them.  I hid plastic animals in the bin, and made a sheet for the children to match animals to as they found them.

We worked on making farm words with letter tiles and magnetic letters too.  Each of the pages I put out at this center had a farm themed picture and matching word, and space for letter tiles to make the words.  Looking through all the letter tiles was a challenge for some friends, so midweek I changed this center to just three words, with only the letters we needed available.  Much better!

One of my wonderful neighbors cleaned out her craft supplies recently, and donated some scissors that make fancy cuts and even 2 hole punches.  Oh my!  We LOVED them - thank you Ms. Dixie!  We cut paper scraps over and over again this week - working on strengthening hand muscles, cutting skills, and hand eye coordination having fun.  The resulting confetti treasure went home in recycled envelopes, and the children are already asking to do this again.

Outside this week we had a Fisher Price Barnyard Boogie dance mat.  There are four different games on it, from hearing animals sounds to remembering a sequence of animals.  It's a loud game - I wouldn't enjoy it inside - but it was perfect for outside!

So was having a table full of bubbles!  My bubble solution is just one part regular Palmolive dish soap diluted with about seven parts water - and makes fantastic bubbles.

We had a cool science discovery moment in the bubbles when a pair of kiddos discovered that they could hold bubbles in their hands - if their hands were wet.  A lot of bubble blowing, chasing, and catching followed!

We're also playing hopscotch in the backyard this week.  Okay, we don't all play it the same way.  Some of my friends can switch between hopping and jumping as they go, some friends can skip over a number... we eliminated the rock throwing part of the game for safety.  But hey, we're counting, practicing reading numerals, and moving our bodies while we have fun! 

We had to enjoy the lovely balmy weather with a picnic lunch one day.  When I looked for paper plates, I discovered I didn't have any plain ones left - but I did have left over Christmas plates, enough for the kids.  Teachers had to have Halloween plates, and when I looked for a bowl to put our apple slices in, I found a Valentine heart bowl.... so I decided this was a mixed up holidays picnic, and brought out a bunny (Easter) and a squirrel (fall/Thanksgiving) to round it out.  If I had realized ahead of time, we would have added some hats and costumes, and been even crazier!

This week we also enjoyed farm themed toys with our play dough...

 ... played a Scrambled Eggs game (and ate real scrambled eggs for lunch)...

 ... used farm themed paint stamps...

 ...read a farm rhyme and riddle on the pocket chart...

 ...played with farm animal  toys and manipulatives...

 ...and measured farm animals with non-standard units.  I found this activity ready made here.

 It's only fitting that we ended the week with a surprise visit from some Canada Geese swimming in the creek with the ducks.  Duck, duck, goose!

We'll continue our farm fun for two more weeks - I can't wait to show you all the fun learning activities we have in store!

Field Trips, and why I love them

I love field trips with the kiddos, I really do.  They are probably the biggest reason I've continued to teach from home, rather than go back to the public school setting.  I love public schools too, don't get me wrong!  My own children attend or attended public schools, and have learned a lot, and done well.  It's just that the students only got to go on one field trip a year. ONE!

 There is so much they can learn by getting out into the world around us, hands on and experiential learning that can't be mimicked in a classroom, even a really great one.

 One of the trips I took this week was to the FW Botanic Gardens.  I took the oldest few kiddos, and they walked and explored for 2 solid hours.

 We started with the Texas boardwalk, going through trees on the raised boardwalk, and stopping every few minutes at the learning stations that are scattered along it. We admired the leaves in different colors, shapes and sizes.

 We climbed on a fallen log, and counted the rings to find out how old it was when it was cut.  The children could see fat growth rings that represent years of plenty, and thinner rings for drought years.  Even cut and on the ground, it was home to roly pollies, spiders and ladybugs. 

 When I told them we were going to go to the Botanic Gardens, they started talking about how beautiful it is there.  Five year olds, and pleased to go somewhere beautiful?  Oh yes!

 We literally stopped to smell the roses - over and over again.  These young children compared the different scents, while watching for bees and other insects.

 Of course we had to take some sweet pictures to show our families! 

 They found peaceful spots to pause.  I have to admit, they had already been walking and running for over an hour at this point, but it was still lovely!  We also paused by a pond for a long time, watching turtles and koi fish, and they noticed that one turtle was different than the others, a different species.

 One child insisted I check out this "bee" - which turned out to be a clearwing sphinx moth.  It hovered like a hummingbird, but looked like an oversized bee.  Amazing!  Something I had never heard of before, but now we all know what it is.

 Of course, kids are going to be goofy.  They had a fine old time sniffing these fallen trumpet flower blooms, then laughing when they could sniff no more, and the flowers fell.

 I planned to take the rest of the children to the Botanic Gardens too, but due to crazy traffic, we ended up at a local city park instead.  It's easy to see that the Botanic Gardens could be a place of learning, but what could they learn at the playground?

 Cooperation and communication to start with.

 Gross muscle development, all kinds of physical skills.  This child learned how to climb up through these rings and back down again safely - and was so proud.

 Pretend play is important too, and each group of kids I've ever met has used this kind of play space to "sell" something.  This group was buying and selling hot dogs, but the following day the wood mulch pieces were sold as chicken nuggets.  Imagination!

 Don't forget the power of sheer joy!  We spun and climbed, slid and rocked, ran and laughed for hours!

 I have a wonderful backyard play area - so why do we need to go to a park?  Variety!  By playing on different equipment, the children are using different muscles in different ways, and it's just more fun to change things up sometimes.

 They get to interact with children they've never met before, or sometimes catch up with an old friend.  On the way to any field trip we talk about our safety rules - #1 rule is "We stick together."  One of the 3 year olds also told me that we talk nicely to the other kids, and if someone bothers you, you ask them to please stop.  What great social skills!  Don't you know some adults that could learn from that small lesson?

 While there are many, many things I could say about our trips out into the world, many things that we can learn, I'm going to end with this one: confidence.  The world is an engaging and wonderous place, and by learning to handle new places and new situations, children learn that they can, indeed, handle new places and situations. 

That's some heavy stuff, for a city park, a garden, or a museum.  And that's why I love field trips!