Happy Earth Day

We spent our morning at a nature park.
          
I visited the park a few days ago looking for frog eggs and brought
                           what I found back to school.
                
I learned that this mass of jelly eggs are not frog eggs but salamander. 
   
This morning we took them back to the pond to release them and look for
                                             frog eggs.
  
We walked along the shore of the pond, scanning the water, especially around
                                       the grass and reeds. 
             
All we found though were more salamander eggs.  Pretty cool but more work
then I’m ready to take on.  I’ll check out a few other ponds and hopefully find
                                             frog eggs.

Looking Forward to…

Last week we read lots of books about animals that come from eggs.  I told the families that this Tuesday, tomorrow, we will be getting eggs to hatch.  Tomorrow when the families arrive they will find incubators.

This one is to play with and learn about different creatures that come from eggs.
                
          
They can open the incubator and crack open the eggs.  After seeing what is inside each egg they can match the toy to the pictures.

And this one is a real incubator.  It is ready for our eggs which will arrive sometime Tuesday.
                 
               Twenty-one days from now we should have baby chicks.

We Have Beans

                   
Do you remember our beans that we planted back in later February?
                       
                  The plants are not very tall but we have beans!

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?