A New Fairy Forest

The children continue their interest in fairies but unfortunately we haven't been able to visit Fair Lane because our city parks department has removed it after a complaint.
  
While discussions continue with the city to rebuild Fairy Lane we decided to explore another forest.
 
This forest is beside our school which means we can visit it anytime.
             
Before heading out to the forest we enjoyed the story of The Three Wishes.  A fairy tale about a poor woodcutter who is given three wishes by a tree fairy. After thinking very hard about the things he would like to wish for, he ends up wasting all his wishes on undoing the damage caused by his other wishes.
   
We don’t know if fairies live in this forest so I explained to the children that as we walk through the forest they are to choose a tree that they think a fairy might like to live.  Then tie a silver ribbon on a branch and make a wish.
      
The silver ribbons are hidden on the branches spread throughout this green space.
   
                        
After some of the children finished tying their ribbon on a branch I noticed one child covering it with leaves and another child collecting sticks.
                          
Tomorrow when the children arrive at school they will find an invitation to create fairy homes using leaves, sticks, pinecones and play dough.
                 
Our library has several of Tracy Kane’s Fairy Houses books that we will use for inspiration.

Button Trays

         
A trip to the dollar store inspired me to find The Button Box book again. 
 
          Buttons are enjoyed by both children and adults.
 
The first day the buttons were available I noticed that most of our toddlers loved dumping the buttons and running their fingers through them.
       
Day 2, I added trays which helped keep the buttons contained, off the floor
             and little ones' mouths, and easier to clean up.

As I watched, I noticed...
 
the older children being more thoughtful on how they used the buttons
 
                        and where they placed them.
  
I saw preference for colour and size.  The colour most often chosen was purple.  They preferred the large buttons over the small.  I’m guessing because they were
                                 easier to pick up.
 
As the children played they learned about colours, sizes, shapes, patterns.  They worked their small finger muscles, as well as crossing the midline of their body when they reached for more buttons.

Milking a Cow

Yesterday we visited a dairy farm and today we milked a cow at school.
               
Well, not a real cow but one made from a saw horse covered with paper.
                        
I used a milk jug, rubber glove and lots of duct tape to create an udder.  It was filled with water and a bit of white paint.  I had hope to harness it to our cow but the pressure on the glove when the jug was turned upside down caused leaking.
               
    So instead we held it in the cow so the children could try it.
  
Prior to showing the children the udder I asked 'Where does milk come from?' and if they knew the answer was 'cow' I'd ask them "How do we get the milk out of cows?"  The words 'udder' and 'teats' were new for most of the children. 
            
This child was very interested in trying to use the udder.  She worked hard squeezing the teat in different ways to get the milk to come out.
  
A smaller group at story time made it possible to share the udder with everyone.
       
One child asked if we put it in our mouth (she has a baby sister who uses a bottle).  We compared the milk bottle to our udder and teat.
             
Our cow will be at school for next week so more families can try milking.

Dairy Farm Visit

Today we visited a dairy farm and learned a lot about cows.
 
The cows were waiting for us as we entered the barn.  There are just over 80 milking cows on this farm.  They are milked early in the morning and later in the evening so we didn’t have an opportunity to see that.

But we did see the machines that are used to milk the cows.
 
We learned about the silage that is fed to the cows and tried to hand feed
                          a few but they were nervous.
          
We learned that it’s important for the cows to lay down for about 16 hours
             during the day to help their blood circulate better.
    
We visited the calf barn and saw the newborns.  The youngest was born on October 19th.  They were skittish and would jump back and kick the wall if we moved to fast.
 
When they did get close we realized that they all still try to suckle.
           
 
We saw the teenage cows and the children's confidence and curiosity was growing.  It was wonderful to hear the cows moo and make that real life connection with what we read in books.
  
But the most exciting part of the whole tour were the tractors. 
     We were able to climb inside and pretend to drive.
             
                                      It was awesome!