Jelly Bean Stew

I love jelly beans and get quite excited at this time of year when I can chant this poem at school.
Do you know the Jelly Bean Stew poem?  Here it is...

Jelly bean stew, jelly bean stew
Red and yellow and purple ones too.
Orange and pink and black and green
It's the prettiest stew I've ever seen.

It's not just because I like to eat jelly beans but it's another fun way to talk about colours.

Today I set up an "invitation-to-play" around the poem.

Driftwood, stones and sticks to build the fire.  Tissue paper for the flames.  An old pot, wooden spoons and little bowls.  And plastic jelly beans that I found several years ago.

It didn't take long for the cooking to begin.

Or serving it and sharing with others around the fire.

And it was really fun to stir and stir and stir.  It made a lot of noise.

Melted Crayon Eggs

We've used the warming tray to melt crayons before but today we did one step before that to decorate our paper eggs.

We used our tiny cheese graters to make tiny pieces of crayon. 

 Then set the crayon covered paper egg onto the tray and watched the crayon melt.

We also set chunks of the crayons on paper on to the warming tray.  When they started melting we used wooden coffee stir sticks, tongue depressors and chop sticks to spread it around and  make designs.

Two handed method works well.

Sign of the Week - Egg

This week's sign is 'egg'.
Using both hands, hold up the index and middle fingers together (just like we did when we signed 'bunny').
Now place them in front of your body with palms facing the body.
Place the right hand on the left (crossing fingers).
Drop fingers down and apart.
Like an egg being cracked open.

Our nursery rhyme of focus this week will be...
Humpty Dumpty
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall
All the King's horses and all the King's men
Couldn't put Humpty together again.

Story - Too Much Noise

This past week I told a story called "Too Much Noise".

I found the book written by Ann McGovern and thought it would be fun to tell orally.
I also made story stones for the families to use to retell.  I'll post a picture of those soon.

Group Project - String Eggs

All week the children and their grown up have had the opportunity to get sticky.

We have been building string eggs. 

What fun to stick your hand in a bowl full of glue.

Then trying to maneuver the string around a floating balloon.  Not as easy as it looks.

 We made one per day.  They dried overnight and we were able to pop the balloons in the morning.  It was fun to watch and listen to the balloon shrivel inside the string.

I cut away some of the string to make a window.  Then slipped in some Easter grass and this little duck-wanna-be-bunny.

This craft has been around since I was a little girl but it amazes me when I encounter someone who hasn't seen it before.  That happen quite often this week.  I think a few families will be trying this simple craft at home.

Shake, Rattle and Roll Egg Decorating

Last weekend I was at Dollarama and found large plastic eggs, the largest that I have ever seen. 
They open on the horizontal rather than the vertical so sit well on the table.  I also found little styrofoam eggs.  Put the two together and I thought we could decorate the eggs with these.

After opening the egg we spooned in paint.  At first we used pink, purple and yellow but found that it turned brown.

So took away the yellow for a nicer final look.

Add a styrofoam egg or a few. Put the lid on and start shaking.

We discovered that the styrofoam eggs were often to light to roll on their own.  They got stuck in the paint and wouldn't move.
Even turning the egg upside down didn't help.

Rolling it with our finger was messy and not as much fun.

We finally figured that something heavier needed to be in the egg to help the styrofoam egg move.  

We added marbles.

 

It worked!

And a bonus is the sound it makes.

It was a very popular art table today.

Bird's Nests

This week you'll find many birds and eggs around the room to play with.  

 Today at the craft table we made our own nests. 

We covered little bowls with saran wrap for prep then the children painted it with glue.

There were feathers to add first. I had a real nest to show how the adult bird used softer materials like feathers, hair or fur to make the nest warm and comfortable.

Then the gooey work began.

 Mixing shredded paper with white glue.

Some children liked it while others definitely did not.

Then we covered the prepared bowl with the sticky paper.

The nests have to dry for a day or two,

 but I did take one off the bowl mold to see how it looks.

 Add a cute little cottonball chick that we made a couple of days ago and we're ready to play.