Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Bunny Cracker Snack

             march 19 004
This is a fun and easy snack for children to build themselves.
               march 19 012
The trickiest part is spreading the cream cheese on to the
cracker.  We used popsicle sticks for the spreading, they
are small with flat edges.
march 19 023  march 19 022
         Next add the facial features of the bunny.
march 19 006 march 19 011
         march 19 024
               Time to eat before it hops away.

Leprechaun Rocks


       march 18 001  march 18 004
Have you heard of Leprechaun Rocks before? I hadn’t till this past weekend when I was scrolling through Pinterest and found them at Gift of Curiosity. So exciting and just perfect for the outing that was planned today.

We headed out this morning to explore the tree at Hurford Park where I had first seen the Wee Little Man disappearing.
                             march 18 042 
When we were altogether I retold our Leprechaun story.   Telling about all the mischief it had gotten into each day at school last week.
                      march 18 047
It was a gorgeous day and the children were excited to start searching.
         march 18 048  march 18 050
We checked out a few trees that we thought might have a Leprechaun living there.  One would make a good home for a troll, dark with a deep hole.  The other we found a geocache hiding by it's roots.  That was exciting.
  march 18 051  march 18 052
Then we found the tree and started searching for some sign of the Wee Little Man.
march 18 053  march 18 054
No Wee Little Man but we started to find these interesting green little mounds.   I thought they were rocks but one little boy called them eggs.
march 18 059  march 18 061
Luckily I came prepared.  I poured some Magic Brew into a pot and the children dropped their rock/eggs into it.  It started to bubble and foam.
march 18 065  march 18 066
The children found sticks and stirred up the brew then dipped in their hand to see what was left.
            march 18 067 
Out came a coin that wished them good luck.

march 18 077 march 18 070
The children continued to search and find more rocks.
march 18 072  march 18 078
We used up all the Magic Brew and each took a good luck coin home.

Monday, March 18, 2013

The Day After St. Patty’s


    march 18 007  march 18 009    
This morning at school the children quickly checked the trap to see if we had caught a Leprechaun.  No, there wasn't a Leprechaun but he did leave footprints and a string hanging from the table that led to the floor.
                march 18 015  march 18 016
The children followed the foot prints but they faded away.  No Leprechaun, no gold, no wishes.  Oh well maybe next year.

Friday, March 15, 2013

Leprechaun Shenanigans

               march 12 093
The Story of the Leprechaun is a new book for me.  It grab
my attention right away with it's images.   It is based in a
forest with fairies.  It explains that Leprechauns earn their
gold by making shoes for all the wee folk that live in the forest.    march 12 096
It is beautifully illustrated and reminds me of our Fairy Lane.

But let me tell you our Leprechaun story.
              march 9 008
Our story started last weekend as I was walking through
the woods close to my home.  I thought I heard a tapping
sound coming from a big beautiful old tree.
             march 9 005
As I walked around the tree I saw a movement and there
at the base, where the roots form a hollow, I saw a wee little
man running inside.  I was too slow and didn’t catch him
nor did I find any gold.  But I think he followed me home
and on to school.

        march 11 039
On Monday when we got to school, there on our rainbow table,
were little tracks that look like footprints.
Could it be a Leprechaun?
We searched and searched but couldn’t find him.

But the question arose, could a Leprechaun be a girl?
Hmm interesting question.  Do you have an answer?

     march 12 001
On Tuesday when we arrived at school, there on the floor, all of our
baskets of animals had been dumped.  Who would have made
such a mess?  After we printed the picture we looked closer and there
in the middle of all those animals was a wee little man.
            He had tricked us.

march 11 046  march 12 034
That’s the day we started to build a trap.  Maybe we could catch the
Leprechaun before he played another trick.

        If we caught him what would we wish for?
L wants to be a superhero, N wants to be a dinosaur.

             march 12 037
Well while we were busy that tricky little man sprinkled gold dust
in our hand washing bowl and we didn’t even see him.

    march 13 001
On Wednesday all of our Leprechaun and rainbow books were spread all
over the carpet.  One little book was standing, the title “Look for a Leprechaun”,
we did look but didn’t find him.
Can you see him waving at us from inside the book – tricky little guy.

march 12 097 march 12 098
We read another book about a Leprechaun on the Loose in a school
and got more ideas for our trap.
IMG_4980  IMG_4983

On Thursday we found our basket of duck stuffies covered with
green shamrocks.
             march 14 002
    The children dug into the shamrocks but no Leprechaun.
march 14 006 march 14 007
           We did find his hat.  A sparkly little green hat.
march 14 008  march 14 009
               It was too small for all of us.

        march 15 052
This morning when we were making our Irish Soda Bread we opened
the buttermilk container to find that it was green.  But not only was the
milk green but when I sliced a loaf of white bread, that I had made for
snack, look what we found inside.
      march 15 090
                                    A rainbow!

Our trap is set for the weekend. 
   march 13 049
Will we catch the wee little man on St. Patrick’s Day?
We’ll check on Monday when we’re back at school.


       “May you always have walls for the winds,
          a roof for the rain, tea beside the fire,
      laughter to cheer you, those you love near you,
             and all your heart might desire.”

You can find the recipe for the rainbow bread here