Gone to the Birds

Our solution to the bug problem in our garden was to bring in some birds.
I enjoyed hearing the parents talk to their children about the experiences they have had with their own gardens. Making that connection to the child's own life is so important to make it real.

We not only brought in birds but we made some too.

And since we had birds we had to make homes for them.














I think they liked them.




Both the children and the birds.

Bugs in the Garden

Back to school this morning and we found bugs in the garden luckily they were fake.


There was much talk about the different kind of bugs in our garden and the bugs that the families have found in their home gardens.

Roll-a-painting

Oh today was a busy day. The nature of StrongStart is drop in. Families can come whenever they wish and stay for as short or as long as they wish. Today we had over 30 children plus their grown-ups visit.

It was so busy that I didn't have much time to spend in our second room where the dramatic play, and at the moment our Harvest Garden, is located.

At the craft table Roll-a-Painting was set up. It's the same as marble painting but we used different size, shape and weighted balls.







Some interesting observations were made and...

It was very popular.craft

Where does the food grow?

We were busy working in our garden when a question was asked. Where does the apple grow?

Did it grow in the ground or on a tree? Her answer made me think of how we could play with this.

So today I used the only tree that we have in the room (a palm tree) and tied baskets from it. The baskets were used to put in the food that grows above ground then a basket was placed on the bottom to represent what grows under the ground.

The baskets filled up fast.

Harvest time

Yesterday when the children started the harvest garden we talked about why to put a fence around the garden. Where we live there are a lot of deer and they love to eat up people's gardens. So a fence is needed to keep them out.














Today a deer did come to visit.





Luckily the fence kept them out and there was lots to harvest.

First day back at school

First day back to school and it didn't take long for the children to find and explore the dramatic play area.

I had left two bags of soil in a large wooden tray on the floor.
We cut them open and the children used rakes to spread it all out.

Then we opened the bin of artificial fruits and vegetables that I've been finding all summer.

Let the planting begin!

What will we do next?

Butterflies 2010

What a wonderful experience it is to see life come alive.
That's what happen for us as we followed the life cycle of a butterfly.

Starting from the larvae stage through to releasing the Painted Ladies into the flower gardens. It's amazing to watch and learn.

Check out our slide show to witness what we experienced.

Butterflies