Jenny Jenkins

This is a song that I use to sing with my children when they were little.  It has a catchy tune, silly words and focuses on colours.
      
I found these images while searching Google.  Perfect for the song.  We have sung it several times now so will need to make more dresses to include other colours.
     
I like this song because of the rhyming component.  As I introduced a colour we brainstormed, as a group, words that rhyme or sound the same as it.  Here’s an example;  blue – shoe, do, new, few, glue, and the list went on.
           
I would pick the rhyming word from our list then we would start the song.
Jenny Jenkins
Oh will you wear blue, oh my dear, oh my dear?
Oh will you wear blue, Jenny Jenkins?
No I won’t wear blue, it just won’t do!
           
Buy me a roly-poly, fildy-foldy, seek a double, use a cozza, roll to find me.
Roll Jenny Jenkins roll.

We repeated this with each colour.

To listen to the song you could check out Jerry Garcia and David Grisman's version on Youtube

Rainbow Rings

                This is the beginning of a week full of rainbows.
To start I made Rainbow Rings using old wooden curtain rings and ribbons.
               
I found ribbon on sale at Michaels but I wish I would have bought a wider size.  It would have made the rings look a lot fuller and the colours more dynamic.
   
A couple of songs that we will sing are “I See Rainbows” by Jean Warren
    
                             and “I Can Sing a Rainbow”.
Red and yellow and pink and green,
purple and orange and blue.
I can sing a rainbow, sing a rainbow,
sing a rainbow too.

Buddy Colour Hunt

    Today we did an outdoor colour hunt with our big buddies.
                     But it took a bit of prep.
 
Last week I met with the big buddies to introduce them to ‘magic rocks’. 
         
Mixing baking soda and green water makes a paste that we molded around Good Luck coins.  We left them to dry so they would be ready for today.

        
This morning I gathered all our materials and the big buddies set it up outside.
   
They hung seven different coloured scarves on the fences around the school yard.
             Leaving magic rocks around each of the scarves.

Once we were all together we started by singing and signing “I Can Sing a Rainbow”.
      
     Then each little buddy got a colour card and they were off searching.
   
              
          Running across the field and finding their matching coloured scarf.
      
They picked up a magic rock and headed back across the field to see what to do
                                                   next.
    
Time to drop their rocks into the pot and watch as we poured in the magic potion (vinegar).  The rocks bubbles and foamed.  The colour you see is from food colouring that I added to the pot the night before.
    
       The children stirred and watched until the bubbles faded away.
         
      To magically find green coins on the bottom for them to take home.

Spuds in Tubs 2014

You know it’s spring when it’s time to plant spuds.
We needed to get ours planted before our Spring Break happens next week.
        
Our StrongStart program has participated in this BC Agriculture program for several years.  They provide the soil, seed, tubs, posters and curriculum.  It’s great.
        
The tubs were ready with a bag of soil in each.  Our seed potatoes had sprouts on them and we had to pick off the longest ones before planting.
   
      We mixed the fertilizer into the soil then dug holes.
      
The children picked their potato and checked that they were ready to plant.
      
      They dropped them into the hole and covered them up.
            
        We also talked about what the seeds need to grow.
     
         And finished off with giving the pots a good soak.

At the same time we planted bean seeds.
We will watch and see which one will grow the fastest.
 
       
The beans are planted in these little beakers and will sit on the window sill above the spud tubs.

Book–The Little Rabbit Who Liked to Say Moo

You can’t go wrong with a book that has animal sounds, especially if your group involves toddlers.  Story time at StrongStart includes babies up to 5 year olds.  So to find a book that is enjoyable and keeps the attention of those various ages is a book that I will use again and again.
                     
This book, by Jonathan Allen, is a fun way to introduce sounds for each animal. Which keeps the young members of the group involved.  For the older children I used it to help focus on the first letter sound in each word.
                 
The first time retelling the story, without the book, the word bubbles were blank.  When introducing each animal and after the children told me the sound they make I wrote it on the bubble sounding out each letter.
           
The book, pictures and word bubbles were left for the families to explore and retell.  I noticed several families use it as a matching game.

Archery

While we were learning about castles the children were quite interested in
defending it with axes, swords and bows and arrows.
      
I found a couple of plastic bows and arrows at a dollar store and we created
a target for practice.   During that time I learned that our local Fish and Game
Club has an archery range.  I arranged for a tour.
  
The members set up a few extra targets for us at the archery range.
      
Our guide for the morning, Larry, talked to us about how the bows and arrows
were made.  He explained that the feathers help the arrow fly straight and why
they are two different colours.
     
Larry demonstrated how to nock the arrow and the correct standing position. 
When he said “course open” no one was allowed to go on the other side of the
wooden plank.
                
                  Then it was our turn to give it a try.
   
   
After a bit of instruction and a lot of practice some of the children were
getting the hang of it and trying it on their own.
    
                   
        I think she would have stayed all afternoon if allowed.
   
Not all the children could use the real bows at the same time so those
that were waiting made their own bow with a stick and string.
      
The trick was to tie the string tight enough to make the stick
bend (they were fresh cut sticks).
    
               They took these home to keep practicing.

And finally the adults had a turn at using the bows.
   
Archery is a challenge but a lot of fun and another great activity to get us outdoors.