Parachute Lessons

Today we got together with our big buddies in the gym to play with the parachute.
We haven’t used the parachute very often but when we have I learned that it is
very exciting for the children and to be able to give directions we needed
to start with small steps
and that meant at first sitting down to use it.

This allowed more control both for me to give the directions and for the children
to manipulate the parachute with just their arms.

We started by moving the parachute side to side then up and down. 
Those were the two movements we would focus on today. 
Having the big buddies as role models for each child allowed me to stand apart
and observe how it was working.


Now we were ready to make popcorn. 
We pretended the parachute was a big pot. 
First it needed to get hot so we turned on the stove, poured in the oil
and threw in the popcorn kernels (soft yellow balls). 

The oil needed to be spread around so we moved the parachute side to side
and listened for the oil to get hot.  Once we were all making sizzling sounds
the kernels were ready to pop.

But I learned that using a bigger parachute made it much more difficult
to pop the balls off the parachute especially when we were sitting
so we stood up.

Although it was alot more fun it didn’t help much
in fact I could hear some students say they were getting tired. 
So we brainstormed and decided to make a wave,
one side would lift the parachute up really high while
the other side went down low.

It didn’t work either so next we sent the little buddies underneath
to knock them off.


They loved it.  I could hear the laughter from both young and old.


Lastly we gave the little buddies a ride –
it was wonderful to watch their expressions of glee as we walked
around twisting the parachute so it moved.


The final lesson I learned was to make plans with the big buddies
before we get together. 
After the parachute play several came up to me and suggested
other ways we could use the parachute. 
Ugh!  I have to remember that I’m not in this alone, that many minds make great plans.

Thanks grade 7s for another wonderful experience.

Stars for our Fairies

              
This morning several families ventured into Fairy Lane
to decorate it with the stars that we made yesterday.
 
It was raining a bit when we started but it didn’t slow us down.

 
Most of these families haven’t explored Fairy Lane before so it was
exciting for them to find the fairy doors for the first time.

 
As they discovered the doors they decided where to hang their stars. 

 
The stars are not very big, as you can see by the first picture.
But we're sure the fairies will see them.
 
Once the trees were decorated we stopped for a snack and story.
   
     
The Three Wishes was a perfect story to hear in this forest setting.
It is about a poor woodcutter who wishes that he could have better
clothing, home and food but none of his wishes come true till the day
he finds a very big oak tree.  
When he is about to cut it done a Tree Fairy appears and pleads for him
not to cut down her home. 
He agrees and is granted three wishes. 
But he accidentally misuses them.

       
 The children were excited to show me the web of stars they found.
The raindrops on the leaf skeleton do look like little stars.

       
I hope you have a chance to visit our Fairy Lane and feel free
to bring more cherished items to share with the fairies.

All About Christmas Trees

As the children entered the room today they found several different activities
about Christmas trees.

 
The first activity was decorating mini trees with mini ornaments.
This is a fun activity and is great for working on their fine motor. 
It takes patience and skill to loop the ornament over the end of the branches.

 
The next was found at the easel – sticky tree decorating.
I cut a tree from green tissue paper and mounted it on red paper
then covered it all with contact paper, sticky side out. 
In the tray the children found various shaped confetti and ribbons.

 
 At the art table we used the hammers and golf tees to hole punch paper trees
to hang in the window.
 
We’ve done this art before and it’s always popular. 
It’s easy to prep and looks great hanging in the window from both the inside
and outside.
         
This little girl took it a step farther and used the various shaped hole punches,
like snowflakes, gingerbread man and stars to decorate her tree.

We also hole punched tin stars.
 
I used a disposable tin tray to cut out the stars. 
After they punched holes or left marks on the star,
we strung fishing line and will use them to hang in the trees at Fairy Lane.

And finally…
        
A tree made from a garden tomato cage (upside down) wrapped
with green and red garland and twinkle lights. 
Available are candy canes to hang in the tree.

Ginger Kid Spotting Around the World

       
Everyday we receive mail about our Ginger Kids.

Thank you to everyone who has participated in this adventure.
It has been exciting learning about different places.
And reading the stories the Ginger Kids have written.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
And see how far the gingerkids have gone.


Thank you to the Head Start program in Oregon for sending us the fun gingerbread stickers.