Super Hero Day

Today was International Walk to School Day and our school
showed their spirit by dressing as super heroes.
 
   
A few super heroes showed up at StrongStart.
We added to our costumes at the art table.
 

Then we got together with our grade 7 buddies.
 
We sang some songs, listened to a story, walked around the gym
and sang Ring Around the Rosie together.

This was our second visit with our big buddies.
The response from the grown ups that attend StrongStart is very positive.
They are impressed with the patience and enthusiasm the grade 7s show.
  I’m impressed too.

Earlier this week I went to their class and showed them how to make super hero masks and talked about how their little buddy might react about putting something on their face.
The first thing I noticed was that the class was welcoming, attentive and polite.
                    
But what stuck out the most was how they worked together.
       
Sharing equipment and helping each other.
Plus getting into the spirit of the activity.
          
At the end of this morning we saw our buddies again during the school’s
Dance walk.

The whole school participated and it was a bit overwhelming.
But seeing someone bigger, that they recognized, made it feel a little less threatening.

Fairy Doors

            
In a community close to us, fairy doors have been found on one
of the mountain biking trails. 
                                        Very exciting!
 
             The doors are about 3-6 inches tall. 
They are placed on the side of stumps, on short side trails off the main.

They inspired us to make fairies at school then take them out to look at the doors.

We used little, old fashioned clothespins with seeds and cones I
found on my morning walk. 
We also used yarn, moss and old silk flowers.

We used the glue gun to put them together.

		Our Fairies VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

They were ready to check out the doors.

 
It was a bit of a hike in to the start of the trail. 
Up some steep hills and around narrow trails.
 
Our fairies checked out the doors to see if they wanted to move in.
 
The trail led us to a bench with a view of the leaning tree.
 
                

Since it’s a mountain bike trail there were a few jumps, like the Drop of Doom.
 
It was a little steep so we opted to walk around.

I so like this walk, that I took my own family up there this past weekend.
                     
               
 I'm sure that if he had a bike, he would have rode over the Drop of Doom.

My favourite door was this little red one with a lion’s head knocker.
              
               And I loved the handpainted signs.
           
Stay tuned for more of how else we’ve been playing with fairies.

Story - Turkey Lake

A chalk talk.
Sometimes they work, sometimes they don’t.

 I think if I had added "And it makes this sound, Gobble, Gobble" they would have guessed it.

Cork Turkeys

The beginning…

The process…

The end…

Happy Thanksgiving.

Wednesday’s Walk in the Woods

This week while we walked in the woods we hunted for leaves.
 
I had previously took a walk through the woods collecting leaves.
Took them home, pressed them before laminating them on to cards.
 
The children were very intent on finding their leaf.
Once they found a leaf they’d place it on the card to see if it matched.
We looked for comparisons and talked about the shapes, size and colour.
 
Sometimes we’d find a leaf that had the same shape but it still looked different.  The colour had changed or it was curled or was missing a few pieces. 
Was it still the same kind of leaf?
        
We ended at the big rock. 
They love to climb and slide on it as much as they like to play at the playground.

Turkey Time for Snack

              
  We made turkeys at the snack table this morning.
      
      The materials were arranged in a sectional tray.
    
    And a ‘recipe’ was created for them to follow.
    
The most interesting thing that happened with this snack this morning was that the children thought the bread was chocolate or cake or brownies.  I heard it several times.
 
They were very eager to give it a try. 
Some changed their minds when their parents told them it wasn’t something sweet.
 
But by the end of the morning most had given the pumpernickel bread a try.
 
                               And gobbled it up!