Feeling Spotty

Today was a warm up to the beginning of our Seuss Week.

We focused on a book not written by Dr. Seuss but is from the Seuss Reading Series

And it was one of my favourite books as a child.

I love the play with spots.

 So we joined the "Mad Dot Challenge" at 

Irresistible Ideas for Play Based Learning

The Mad Dot Challenge is based on the work of UK artist, Yayoi Kusama.

What fun it would have been to be part of applying the dots in her room.

But instead we settled on these white dishes

 I found to spot.

 The little dot stickers were tricky for the littlest ones to apply.

So I found bigger stickers that worked better.

After we spotted the dishes we spotted ourselves.

And our grown ups.

And our own drawings.

 

We also read another great book called "Press Here" by Herve Tullet

This is a fun, interactive book.

After you touch, shake or blow, the dots change.

If you haven't seen it yet, I highly recommend it.

It was a wonderfully spotty day.

Field Trip to the Mountain

What a day it was to go up to the mountain to look for birds 

and hang our feeders.

 It was snowing and blowing like crazy.

Even by this afternoon it had moved down the mountain to town.

Five families braved the roads this morning and joined me at the Nordic ski area.

We walked through a group of trees, making trails.

A little help was needed to make it through until the snow was packed down.

 It was less windy and a little warmer in the trees.

 We hung the orange slices covered with bird seed.

And the strings of cheerios.

We looked for birds but I think they were smart enough to 

stay hidden away where it was warm.

I hope it doesn't snow too much so the birds will be able

to find these treats.

 The snow was tested to see if it was good snowball making snow.

 But no it was fluffy and great for catching on our tongues.

And our eyelashes, hat and everywhere.

We finally went into the lodge and enjoyed a snack and stories 

by the fire.

I'll post the story I told, "The Evergreens" on the weekend.

Orange Slice Bird Feeders

Tomorrow is our field trip up the mountain to check out the birds.
Today we made more bird feeders.

We started with fresh orange slices.
I made a little slit in the middle to thread the yarn through so later it can be hung from a tree.

We tried to spread lard on the oranges but they were quite juicy and it would just slide around.

So instead we dipped the oranges straight onto the bird seed.

Then flipped it to cover the other side.

TaDa!

We took a few and hung them outside on a tree.

Then went back and made the rest for tomorrow.

Looking forward to playing in the fresh snow and feeding the birds tomorrow.

Story - My Red Umbrella

I saw this story as a felt board story over at Rain Makes Applesauce and I thought it would be perfect to tell while we're playing with animals.
This is the video showing the set up, choosing the children to the animals and telling of the story.
Sorry the end was cut off when the batteries died in the Flip camera. 

I loved how the grown ups got involved with singing the song
"The rain is falling down, SPLASH!
The rain is falling down,  SPLASH!
Pitter-patter, pitter-patter
The rain is falling down, SPLASH!

The sun is peeking out, PEEK!
The sun is peeking out, PEEK!
Peeking here, peeking there
The sun is peeking out, PEEK!"

They were doing the actions too because the children were watching and following what their parents/grandparents were doing.

We ended the story by the rain stopping and saying goodbye to each animal.
"Good thing I brought my umbrella with me."

Our Vet Clinic

For the past two months we have been playing with animals in our dramatic play area.

First it was a pet store, you can visit the post here.

Then we switched it to a Veterinarian Clinic.

 We look after wild animals as well as domestic.

After touring a vet clinic,

where we learned about x-rays, bones, bandaging and more,

 

 

we headed back to school to play and discover.

Bandaids are always a hit with children.

I saw this great idea  at Storytime Katie and

just had to make them.

 Bandaids made from felt.

I added velcro to a few, hoping that they would stick to the stuffies 

a bit better but it didn't help.

They were still a lot of fun.

Making x-rays was a learning experience for us all.

I never expected it to turn out this way.

This is how it started with x-rays copied from google images on to transparency film.

 Then we discovered we could draw our own.

Although this little boy was determined to draw guts.

So we quickly talked about the difference between an x-ray and

an ultrasound.

By the end of this week our window was filling up with x-rays

from different animals.

This is our reception/lab note prep area.

I have my daughter's old laptop that still has Word.

It was a hit so we needed to bring another note taking 

machine out.

I love hearing the question "What is it?" about old technology.

Plus the stories that the parents and grandparents tell of their experiences

using a typewriter.