QFC Sealife

During our Circle Time this morning we talked about how water becomes ice and all the different animals that live in water. The Beetle's listed off a lot of animals that live in water such as seals, fish, octopus, lobsters, whales and mermaids! We took a trip to QFC to check out the live Lobsters in the tank, and to grab a bag of ice for a fun (and tasty) project we will do during class time tomorrow.

I asked the Beetle's to point out all the ice they saw in QFC, as well as to remind me not to forget a bag of ice! We made it to the Lobster tank, and the Beetle's had fun pretending their hands were lobster claws.

We saw a lot of Sea Life (on ice!) and Lena had fun pointing to each one, making sure the rest of her friends could take a look.

We moved over to the fish section and saw a lot of Salmon, as well as a few whole Fish. Kaya pointed out that they were all on ice. We talked about how the Seafood needed to be on ice to stay cold, so it will still be tasty when people bring them home.

We walked around QFC looking for the big ice machine and when the Beetle's found it, they all yelled "ice, ice, ice!" :) Outside we each took turns feeling how cold it was. Kaya couldn't wait to ge ther hands on the ice, and said "brrr!" after touching the bag. Zoe thought that was funny and laughed whenever Kaya said it!

Eva liked how cold the ice was because it was so hot outside :)

Lena liked carrying the ice around to all her friends letting them check it out.

Anna Lee wanted a taste of the ice! :)

The Nap Time Wind Down...

A morning in the sunshine is so much fun but exhausting too! Some of our older kids don't nap anymore, but everyone rests their bodies for an hour at least. Every so often I re-post videos like the one below for new parents. It seems crazy that twelve kids would lay down a go to sleep but here it is... sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite.

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Seattle Summer- time for play with water!

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Praying Mantis Eggs

According to our classroom insect dictionary, there could be as many as 200 praying mantis inside each of these eggs! This morning during circle time, we passed them around for a closer look.

 We gently felt their texture, listened to them, smelled them, and looked at them closely using almost all of our senses. We decided not to taste them. :)

 We wondered how tiny they will be when them come out. We talked about what they might need to survive, like water and food. 

 We looked at some photographs in our dictionary, too, so we could see what our praying mantis' might look like when they are ready to hatch.

 We learned that praying mantis will eat raw meat of our hand when grown. They also eat smaller bugs so our ladybugs may be in danger. That could be interesting... 

 We decided to add our mantis eggs to the bug aquarium, which is now in the courtyard. They joined the ladybugs and we let some more of them go in the courtyard, too.

Choo- Choo.......Dance party train coming through.

Every day during clean up time we listened to one of our music cd favorites, by a kid's singer named Laurie Berkner. The song on the cd right after the "Clean It Up" song is one called "Get on the Train."

The Centipedes know just what to do and usually don't hesitate to make a train and chug along, singing and dancing together.

 

It's the simple little daily regulars, like favorite songs, that create smooth and expected routines in our preschool environment.

Water- To Freeze Or Not to Freeze?

Classroom scientific projects should be open-ended to allow for the natural process of learning to unfold.  We started off by discussing our own ideas about water, like why and how water freezes. We also talked about which items we could find around the house that might float in water and which items might sink. As a group, we theorized three different places that we could leave water to see if it freezes; the freezer, the refrigerator, and the outdoors.

Each preschoolers was given a vessel to fill with materials found in the yard and around the house. Some of the items they chose to experiment with were dirt, sticks, leaves, flowers, money, strawberries, dice, and plastic animals.

 Each vessel was unique and personalized.

 Everyone was excited about their creations.

 After we found our items and were satisfied with our projects, we decided how much water to add. We noticed that some of our items floated and others sank.

 When we were finished, we showed our friends our treasures.

 Some of us shook our water up to see what would happen if our items mixed.

 Some carried their treasures gently so the contents of their vessels would stay in place.

 Some of the preschoolers were interested in adding more drawing and writing to their vessels with markers.

 Grace worked slowly to draw a rainbow and a self portrait on her container.

 This is the refrigerator group. They chose to discover what happens to their vessels in the cold fridge.

 This is the freezer group. They want ice!

Tune in tomorrow to see how our scientific adventure unfolds....

Watercolor Exploration- Watching Water Move and Change

Our little scientists don't need much to explore the properties of water. With some water colors, a brush, and a coffee filters, Chloe jumped right in and began to explore.

Anna Lee used green paint and explored what happened when she dabbed her brush down on the filter making dots.

Zoe watched intently as the blue paint dripped off her brush and spread across her coffee filter.

Circle Time w/ Toddlers- Singing, Laughing, Learning

Toddlers Explore Playdough

Sensory play takes advantage of children's natural desire to touch, feel, and manipulate. Children use their senses to make new discoveries. They enjoy the opportunity to imagine how and why things work. They are able to test their own theories and solve simple problems.

 How can I change this? Can I poke it and pull it? Break it and put it back together? Does it smell? Are there other things that I know that feel similar? How is this different from other materials I have explored?

 

By squeezing the clay and holding tools, children refine their senses and strengthen their motor skills.

Ladybugs for Our Bug Aquarium

This morning, the Beetles headed on a short walk to our local garden store with Carrie to pick up some ladybugs and praying mantis eggs sacks for both our garden and for our classroom bug aquarium.

 The toddlers returned from their trip and we were all excited to let some of the ladybugs loose in the garden. There were so many of them!

 Some of us wanted to catch them and hold them while others preferred watching for a while.

Here is our new friend Zoe checking out a lady bug and allowing one to crawl on her hands and arms.  The ladybugs will help our vegetables growing in our garden to stay healthy and they will eat some of the bugs that have been eating our plants, like aphids!

We were careful not to squeeze or hold them too tight.

 After a little while, they would spread their wings and fly away!

Snap Peas from our Garden

Some of our snap peas were ready to eat, so before we walked off to the yard we decided that it was a good time to have a little snack fresh from our garden.  The kids were excited to check out how the peas had grown and talked to each other about the different sizes and shapes of our snap peas!

Luka: Wow!  This snap pea is really small.

John: My snap pea is bigger than that one!

Talking about the snap peas shows the kids how things can change and grow, 

and that with the right environment and some sunshine, we can grow our own snacks.