Froggy Faces and Blowing

                        
       We had a lot of fun this morning making these froggy faces.
 
At the art table the families found paper shapes, green colouring tools and party blowers.  Buttons and glue gun were off to the side.
 
                         
They coloured, added buttons for eyes and punched a hole to add the party blower for the frog’s tongue.
   
Then at a separate table they could try to blow little balls around some lily pads.
                 
   
It was so much fun to watch them first try to blow through the blower and second to try to aim and hit the balls.
                 
Perseverance was the word that came to mind as I watched some children try and try.  They just didn’t give up.  Sometimes they blew until the blower fell apart.
                  
Then there was the competitive children or the dad that was encouraging them to be.  Either way it was a lot of fun.

There Was an Old Lady Part 2

Last week I shared a video of a story version I wrote on There Was an Old Lady that Swallowed a…Bear.  After I posted about it a local family day care provider that follows my blog decided to make it into a felt board story.  I had to buy a copy.
               
      I love it and had to tell the story to the families this week at school.
             
It was a hit but I realized how much I enjoy someone else saying it while I hold up the pieces.  I guess I’m going to have remember the words better for next time.
                 
For any one local you can buy a variety of felt stories and fingerplays from Janis.  She has her own facebook page.

Collaborative Art Work

Every Wednesday during the month of May we did a collaborative art piece.

Week #1 we started by squirting glue all around the canvas.
                    
     
The freedom to just squirt glue without any purpose except for doing.  They loved it.

Week #2 we coloured it with crayons.
              

The crayons add more wax as well as colour to the canvas.

Week #3 painting with watercolour.
        
   
Spreading and dabbing paint here and there on the canvas, occasionally noticing
                     that the paint wouldn’t cover some areas.

Week #4 gluing collage materials to the canvas.
                
Crepe papers, grocery ads, doilies, mesh and more were ready to add to the canvas.
              Unfortunately I didn’t get any pictures of that happening.
        
                                  Our masterpiece!

A Morning Learning at the Beach

I love going to the beach with the families of StrongStart.  The children are so curious and adventurous.  It always impresses me how many children will pick up crabs with no hesitation. 
                  
       We spent the morning at one of our local beaches with Natasha from
                         West Coast Environmental Education Society.
                   
             
    The Society promotes knowledge, appreciation and respect for the natural
          environment through its education program, science & nature.
                   
        
Natasha walked us out to the tide pools armed with tubs and strainers for
                                              collecting.

      Here is a glimpse of some of the fascinating creatures we found.
                 
                 
                 
               
                           
We then took our finds and put them in white trays to get a better look.
             
   
      
We found fish, shells, hermit crabs, jelly fish, pile worm, lots of crabs (big and small),
                               sea stars, snails, and limpets.
                      
                                 Some of us even saw a deer.

                  
         Natasha showed us a safe way to pick up a crab so it can’t pinch us.
                           
And how to tell the difference between a male (lighthouse shape underneath)
                      and female (beehive shape underneath) crab.
                            
             
There are forest schools around the world but wouldn’t it be wonderful to have an ocean school?  Imagine spending everyday at the beach exploring, creating and learning.
                   
We didn't find my favourite snail, moon snail, but we did find a couple of beautiful
                                        orange sea snails.