Thanksgiving

Toward the end of fall we began preparing for our Thanksgiving feast.

We strung colorful necklaces using cereal.

We decorated vests with colorful paint.

We put heavy cream in a jar and shook it to make butter.

We formed dough into biscuits for our potluck meal.

And we got all dressed up to share our feast.

Pumpkin Junction Field Trip

Our field trip started off with a train ride around the grounds. We saw a reindeer, a pond, peacocks, and lots of other fun things. This train was just our size too.

Next was a ride on the 2 story carousel. The older students had fun riding on horses that moved up and down.

Some of the younger kids and I rode in a carriage seat that was a little more safe.

Next we walked through the maze. One stop in the maze was to decorate an old piece of farm equipment with sidewalk chalk. Everyone enjoyed drawing pictures and writing their names.

Then we walked through the tunnel.

Another stop was at this maypole game. It was a little hard for us to coordinate holding on and walking in the same direction. It was a lot of fun trying this out.

After the maze it was movie time. We learned about how pumpkins grow from seed. Then we got to hear a story about a square pumpkin.

Once the movie was over, it was finally time to pick our own pumpkins to take home.

Next we went to the sleuths to pan for special rocks.

We each got a small bag of shiny rocks to take home.

After a morning full of activities we were able to stop and have a special popcorn snack and color some scarecrow pictures. Then we grabbed our pumpkins and headed back to school for lunch and a nap. It was such a fun a special day for all of us.

October Fun

Color Mixing

We used red and yellow finger paints for color mixing. We used the shape of a pumpkin on our finger paint paper.

Indian Corn Painting

This was fun but very messy. The Indian corn did not make a very good print like we anticipated. Next time we will try using fresh corn and maybe get better results.

Glitter Webs

Borrowed from a project we prepared for another group. We used white pencil on black paper to trace out a web. Students then traced with glue and sprinkled on glitter. After drying we attached a spider made out of pipe cleaners.

Felting

We were attempting to make orange felt balls that would later be decorated as pumpkins. The balls turned out wonderfully but unfortunately we ran out of orange wool before too many pumpkins could be created. Everyone was really please with their creation. Here is a students felting his wool in the water/soap solution.

Monster Puppets

After reading "Go Away Big Green Monster", we created our own monster puppets. We used various shapes of colored construction paper and arranged them on our paper bags. It was fun for students to identify shapes and which ones should be used for various facial parts.

Bread and Soup

I don't always post pictures about our weekly baking and cooking. Mostly because if often escapes my memory to get a few shots in while up to my elbows with flour or in room room full of 3 year olds with butter knives. However, most weeks we do bake bread. During the summer we took a little break from our baking as it was hot and spending time outside before the heat settled in was of the most importance. As the school year came around again, so did our weekly bread making. To add to our learning we have decided to take the first 26 weeks of school and use our bread dough to shape each letter of the alphabet. It is such an exciting way to incorporate our learning of letters/sounds with the senses. Students can really say, "I made the letter today".

Letter F rolls are ready for the oven.

Capital D and one lower case d fresh out of the oven.

In mid-October we added 'Warm Soup Wednesday' to our routine. The students help to prepare and cook our soup for the day. At lunch time everyone gets to try the soup that they helped to make that morning as part of their lunch. Even some our the most reluctant eaters are eager to sample their creations each week and find new vegetables that they really do enjoy.

We spend the first 30 minutes of our school day on Wednesday cutting our vegetables for soup.

Each students gets to use a cutting board and butter knife. We found that the butter knives work much better than some of the plastic child safe knives we have tried. At first cutting was hard for little hands but after weeks of practice all the students are getting very skilled at holding the item with one hand and cutting with the other hand. Even our youngest 2 year old works hard each week to cut up her veggies!

We've done variations of vegetable soup, minestrone, noodle and vegetable soup, and even the one below which was creamy potato and carrot soup.

The children take such pride in creating food that they later eat. I can't think of a better way to share the love of cooking and eating with young children.

Fall Activities

We have done so many things these last few weeks to celebrate fall!

Apple Collage

Apple Prints
We made these after listening to the Apple Star Story. When the apple was cut in half we were able to see the star inside.

Painting and Print Making with Leaves

We used tempra and leaves from a tree down the road.

Autumn Windsocks

Construction paper and tissue paper were used. Paper leaves were found at the local dollar store.

Fall Watercolor Washes

We started with a yellow wash and then added some red. It was fun for the children to see the colors blend together to make orange.

Fall Collage

Autumn Lanterns

We used our fall watercolor washes to make the lanterns. A decorative hole punch was used to create a leaf shape around the edges of each lantern.

Coffee Filters

For our first experiment with coffee filters we used liquid water colors to see what would happen if we dropped yellow and red pain onto the surface. Not only were we excited to see how the paper absorbed the paint, but we also enjoyed watching the two primary colors mix to make orange. Using eye droppers also helped us to strengthen our hand muscles for learning to write.

The older students were curious to see what happened when they first decorated their coffee filters with washable markers. After they added lots of designs and colors, clear water was dropped on to the filters. It was amazing to see the colors blend and spread. For both experiments we used about 5-6 coffee filters on top on each other to help absorb the liquid. Some of our coffee filters went home and others we are keeping to use for fall leaves!

Making Our Names

A big focus during our 'Back to School' theme is September is learning about the letters in our names. Our 2's and 3's are primarily learning to identify their names as well as the initial letter. Our 4's and 5's, preparing for Kindergarten next fall, are focusing not only on identifying their name but also ordering the letters and learning to write it. Here are just a few of the ways our students practiced their names this month.

Rainbow names using construction paper squares.

Polk-a-dot names using paint pens.

Finger paint names.

Bread dough names that were just as fun to make as they were to eat!

Our New Layout

Back to School was the perfect time to give our school room a face lift. Here are some of our new views.

Science, sensory, and seasonal area.

Play kitchen

Dress Up area

Play house and book areas

Book nook and circle time carpet.

Learning Board

Carpet jobs, behavior chart, and nap time blanket storage.

And some areas you don't usually get to see. Cubby and parent information area.

Our snack, lunch, art, cooking, and all things messy area.

Our much loved outdoor area is still being updated so I'll have to get some new pictures of that once it is done. And of course all the spaces come alive once you add the kids.