Beach Day

I've been lucky to have lived in several different areas of Canada and have traveled most of it.

And I have to tell you that I love where I live and I love my work.

It's always a great day when I can combine both.

Today we went to one of the many beaches in our area.

To check out the sea life, dig in the sand and enjoy our time together as the school year winds down.

Some were brave enough to enter the water.

Others enjoyed decorating sun visors,

 have a snack,

Or just sit back and relax.

It was a windy morning, perfect for flying a kite.

This is work I could do it forever.

Wax Fish

We pulled out the warming trays again today and made wax fish.  

The original plan was to melt crayons on paper shaped fish but then I had some left over clear laminate and thought that it might work too.

The laminate is fairly thin so we needed to put paper between it and the warming tray to stop it from melting.

The laminate is clear and that made it difficult for some of the children to see where to colour, until the wax started to melt.

When the wax is still warm the fish can be picked up and tilted here and there to make the wax move to fill in any empty spots.

The googly eye finished it off great.

The laminate worked so well that I started thinking what else could be used.

Aluminum foil came to mind.

It works amazingly.

The crayon melts quicker and slides smoothly.

The shiny foil coming through reminds me of Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister.

 

Just like fish in the ocean, they come in different shapes, sizes and colours.

Dance Fever

Our school year is winding down and we had our final visit from Chrissy, a dance teacher from a local dance studio.  She has been coming in once a month for the past few months to share her passion and enthusiasm for dance.

Always starting with different warm up exercises to music.

Today she focused more on ballet.  It was enjoyable watching the children and their grown ups get as small as they could then jump up high on their tiptoes.

Chrissy had them move in different ways and with scarves 

- this is my favourite - 

fly like a bumblebee with your wings tucked behind their backs.

 Thank you Chrissy.

Jello Oceans

The children were a bit confused when they saw blue jello on the art table.  

And a little disappointed when glue was added 

to it. 

Some were ready to run their fingers through it when I told them it was our fingerpaint today.

While others were a little more reserved and took a gentle approach.

Jello fingerpainting caught on and soon it was squished, smeared, and slimed across the papers.

There were paper fish, crabs, and green tissue paper seaweed to make an ocean scene.

Or create your own story like this little boy did.

"The rocketship blasts off, woosh, brmmmm, shhhhake, shhhhake."

"Do you know it shakes?" he asks me. 

"Oh" I said.

"Because it goes fast"

"shhhhake, shhhake"

Snail Garden

For the last week we have been growing grass in a tub to invite a few snails into live for awhile.

We used the wheat grass seed again in half of the tub and regular lawn grass seed in the remaining half.
We watered it and watched it grow.  I also brought in flowers for colour and food for the snails.

Today some snails arrived.

It didn't take the snails long to move right in and feel at home.

The snail garden has been a wonderful way to learn about snails; how they move, names of parts of their body, what do they eat, the environment they live in (dry vs moist).

It's wonderful to get up close and really get to know the snails.

We have six of them.

Children are good at teaching each others how to care for living things.

Story - The Large and Grumbly Bear

I learned this story from a fellow storyteller during our last share group.  I'm lucky enough to have a group of people who like to get together once a month to share stories.  We learn a lot from each other.
This past month, Alix, shared this story that she found in an old children's book.  It is called The Large and Grumbly Bear.  I liked it so much that I told it this week at our Teddy Bear's Picnic.