Snail Slime Painting

 
We cover the garden with mesh when we are playing somewhere else.
But on the mesh we’ve noticed that the snails slide, upside down and leave
a slimy trail behind.

   
What can we use that will leave a clear shiny trail like a snail?

 
                                 Corn syrup!
We bring one of the snails to the art table to see how it moves
                   and what it leaves behind. 
      
     It moved very slowly and changed directions,
                      so we did too.

        
   We returned the snail to his garden for lunch.
     
And I returned to clean up the wonderfully slimy art table.

Bike at the Playground

 
It's Bike to Work week and we had a fantastic turn out for our
             first Bike at the Playground event.
         
At least 60 children came riding, pushing and scooting this morning.
 
They decorated their bikes with streamers, ribbons and balloons.
   
 
Spent some time washing bikes, scrubbing right down to the tires.
  
                     Ready to ride. 
We drew a figure 8 on the pavement and set up traffic signs
as a course for the children to follow.
     
Or they made their own course, rearranging the obstacles
as they went.
 
Each child was encourage to print their name on a badge and
add it to the wall of fame for riding their bike today.
     
                        Awesome day! 
              Worth repeating next year.

Snail Time

        
 
Every year we create a snail garden right from scratch.  Planting their food,
grass, lettuce and a few surprises from the compost.
 
Tending the garden is an important part of learning to care for others. 
Learning what they need and following through. 
 
Keeping the soil moist and making renovations to the grass when it
gets too long prepared us for the snails arrival.

    
Combining art and the caring of the snails helps us look closer
at them. 
      
What do they look like?  How can we replicate it?
  
Using lazy Susan turntables helped us learn about spirals. 
If we used our finger to follow the spiral on the snail's shell
we learn that it goes round and round.
    
Holding our paint brush in the middle of the plate and
spinning the turn table helps us get a similar effect.
    
And just like the snails each of our art work is unique.

Love to Ride My Bike

        
This week is Bike to Work week and we will be hosting
a Bike at the Playground event on Thursday.
       
I've had a difficult time finding good, easy to sing bike
songs and each year I try a new one.
       
This year I learned a song I heard on Jamie Barnett’s
cd called Ride My Bike.
     
I made magnet board pictures and added sign language
to the song.

Here is a video on me singing and signing the song.

 We love to ride our bikes, do you?
 
Do you have a song about bikes that you could share?

Tree Rubbings

 
We went out into the woods again today to have a closer look at trees.
          

We went prepared to do some rubbings. 
Each page in our books told us what to look for.
 
As they walked through the woods they touched every tree, connecting
with nature in a new way.
   
Making comparisons to each others rubbings.  How are the leaves different?

Finding rubbings wasn’t the only thing we discovered.
 
            We found a fort to play in,
 
    lots of mushrooms poking through the ground,
 
a snail without it`s home and a tree perfect for climbing.
    
    We found the oldest tree in this woods.
   
  It took seven of us to measure around the tree.