A Visit to the Farm

Oh what a beautiful day to go to the farm.  

One of the few sunny days that we've had for a while and we got to be outside and visit baby chicks.

Shamrock Farms opens its doors to the public every fall for pumpkins so I was excited to see that they were hatching chicks and were welcoming classes to come and visit.

This is a popular field trip, it's a fun and relaxed farm to visit, the sign up sheet always fills up fast.

We are lucky that we are doing two trips, today and next Tuesday.

Even though our focus was to visit and hold the chicks there were chickens and goats to feed.

The roosters were vocal and showed us their lovely tail feathers.

We found eggs in the nests.

And best of all we held the chicks.

What's in the Egg? - Family Project

A Family Project is an activity that families do at home then bring back to school and share with the group.  This month's project is called "What's in the egg?"

I provided plastic Easter eggs for the child to take home, encouraging them to find something to fit inside it, think of clues for it and bring it back to school.

When they bring it to school I ask them for their clues and write them down on a folded piece of paper that looks like an egg. (demonstrating literacy in action - what you say is the same as what I write)

At circle time, it's their time to stand up and be the leader.  Giving their clues and waiting for guesses. In the picture above we were with our grade 3 buddy class and this little guy was able to share the game with them.

Family projects are similar to homework but for under 5s.  They offer families the opportunity to have fun with an activity at home.  But what I enjoy most is watching the child stand up in front of the group for the first time.  Their first experience with public speaking.

Today a little girl brought in her project and we went through all the steps of prepping her to stand in front of the group.  But at the last minute she didn't want to stand up and be the centre of attention so I asked her if I could do it with her.  From where she sat comfortably with her mom she clearly answered all the questions.  And the children guessed what was in her egg.  Maybe next time she'll feel ready - little steps with family and school support can be powerful.

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.