Cooking Day–Mac & Cheese

                                
This is the first time we cooked pasta together and it led us to comparing
                                  the uncooked and cooked pasta.
                   
        On the plate are two of each piece of Wacky Mac pasta shapes. 
                  One has been boiled and the other is still uncooked.
  
The children noticed that the cooked was squishy when they touched it.  After some prompting of what else was different they noticed that the colours had changed.  The uncooked was a darker colour while the boiled was lighter.
                          
                      They also noticed that the size had changed. 
                            After cooking the pasta it was larger.
  
While the pasta cooked the children grated the cheese.  The parents supported their children by sitting close by explaining how to use the grater.
             
I had expected the children to sample the cheese but they were so focused
                      on grating that they didn’t even ask.
               
When all the ingredients were ready we started the cheese sauce.  An electric frying pan works well for working with children.  The sides are low so they can reach over to stir without being burned.
  
We first added the butter and watched it change, using the words melt, sizzle and steam.  The flour was added next and it clumped up so we changed tools from a stirring spoon to a whisk and it worked much better.
   
Then we added the milk slowly to smooth the flour and make a white sauce.  We dumped our whole bowl on grated cheese in and it melted quickly.
    
Finally it was time to add the cooked pasta.  Mmm the children noticed the smell and commented that they liked it.  Where previously when the butter was melting they weren’t too fond of it.
               
          We stirred until the pasta was all coated with the cheese sauce.
      
Time to sample our cooking.  They enjoyed it.  Another bonus of using the electric frying pan is that it keeps the food warm for the morning so others that arrive at different times could taste it too.

I found the recipe at www.food.com

Moving Our Spuds Out

                    
After two weeks of our classroom being closed up for Spring Break our Spuds are looking for some sunshine.  I’m a little concerned that there are very few leaves on the stalks.  Will it effect how many potatoes will grow?
            
But we’ve moved them outside this week and the sun is shining on them so hopefully they will fill out.

We gave them a really good water and they are between to greenhouses so are protected from the wind.
                       
We added a bit more plant food and the rest of soil.  We will check back later this week to see if there are any changes.

Replicating Turkey Tails at the Art Table

                            
                  Have you ever seen Turkey Tail Fungus before? 
                    You probably have but didn’t know it’s name. 
                        
      I just learned the correct name but before I just called it Ruffles. 
             It looks like something a Mexican dancer might wear.
               
I found this piece of fungus while I was on a walk and was thrilled to see it was attached to a loose stick so I brought it to school for our Nature table.
                 
                  This morning I moved it to the art table as a model.
                   
Using several shades of browns, black, grey, white and yellow paint the children
                                 painted stripes on a sponge.
  
They then pressed the sponge on the paper and swished it across to make
                                                 the shape.
          
Some painted a stick under their turkey tail.  The child above added leaves too. 

While it was a great opportunity to look closer at nature, I think it would be a great painting activity to do around Thanksgiving.  I’ll have to remember it.

A Different Play Tray

               
I found this picture frame at a thrift store and was very attracted to it.  I wasn’t sure what I would do with it but just felt it was a piece of equipment that I wanted.

I posted it on our StrongStart Educators Facebook page asking for ideas of what to use it for and received many suggestions. One of the most mentioned was to add loose parts with the frame.

            
    I set the frame on a felt covered table with three jars of materials. 
       The jars were full of buttons, bottle caps and ceramic tiles.

    
The younger children spent their time exploring the materials, ignoring the frame.  They practiced taking them out and putting them in as well as stacking.

  
The older children spent time placing the materials inside the frames making patterns and lining the tiles in rows.

What would you use this frame for?

News of Fairy Lane

In a past post I shared that the city had removed all the doors, houses and treasures from Fairy Lane because of a complaint.  In the past several months I’ve been sharing our story with them of why we created Fairy Lane and the benefit it’s been to many families. 
                    
The city has been very receptive of re-establishing the Lane but wanted a few guidelines in place.  With the help of a parent, that use to attend my program, a sign has been created stating the guidelines.  She wrote it in rhyme as if the fairies wrote it themselves.
  
Also on the sign is an explanation about the origins of Fairy Lane. 

“It is said that fairies are Mother Nature’s helpers in keeping all living things safe and protected.  Fairy Lane was created by the Brooklyn StrongStart Program and is an initiative supported by the City.  It promotes creativity and imagination, and encourages families with young children to spend time in nature, searching for fairies and acting as stewards for the environment.”

This fit well with the story of the First Little Fairy.
   
We are still on Spring Break here for another week but the city finished creating two signs and asked if the families would decorate them.  I sent out a message on Facebook inviting anyone who wished to join me in the woods to collect sticks to make a frame for the signs. 
      
I wanted to start our visit to the forest by telling the story of the First Little Fairy and to make it a bit more exciting I made flower fairies. 
                       
The first flower of the season, that grows in this forest, are trilliums so I made Trillium Fairies to hide amongst the real flowers.
   
After listening to the story and looking at the sign we started our walk through Fairy Lane to collect sticks.  Along the way the children spotted the trilliums and as they were encouraged to look closer they found the fairies.
     
It became a hunt and being so close after Easter, where most of the children experienced egg hunts, they were very excited to search.  The children leading our group were helpful in subtly pointing out a fairy when they found one and gave the other children a chance to find them.
                   
We finished the walk with enough sticks to frame our signs.  Now my husband has a job of attaching them all to the board.