Our last week began with the hope to see a leprechaun trapped in our box.
We spoke about how they are going to feel if they caught one as well as if they did not. These thoughts prepared them with a positive attitude. After this discussion at circle time, we headed outside as a group to check out our catch. The first thing our children noticed was something that the leprechaun left for them (pencils). Their next move was smart. They immediately checked if the pot of gold was there or missing. Peeking through the little opening on top, D exclaimed that the pot of gold was gone. Hearing this all the children started investigating the the trap. They looked under every possible thing expecting to see a tiny leprechaun.
Eager to check in the box...
Picking up everything to look under...
Wishing to see one before picking up the golden fabric bed...
Ripping everything, leaving no chance...
Unfortunately, there was no leprechaun inside. They guessed he was witty and labeled him as a great sneaker!!!
Suddenly they saw something strange and called other friends to check it out....
In their words, they saw millions of tiny holes in the grass area. Now this was truly strange, even for me ;-) The only thought that came to their minds was that the leprechaun came in from here and went back in there. They also made a unique connection saying that the leprechauns live underground in grass, and that is why they are green!
Checking the holes seriously...And the investigation begins....
Deep...(sticking the pencils in and calling, 'come out leprechaun!')
Deeper...(eyes carefully checking the holes!)
Deepest...(finally, nothing beats feeling with the fingers!)
Well, some even tricked the teachers calling, "I see the leprechaun's little head here" and the hunt became sillier now :) They laughed and giggled and kept tricking each other. It was totally a fun investigation with their smart minds thinking of problems and solutions, discussing the 'maybe' aspect, all filled with their
early age thoughts and emotions!
The final 'Maybe' story goes as follows:
Maybe the leprechaun came out or maybe millions came out and together worked to carry the pot of gold since one leprechaun would not be able to carry the heavy pot...then they threw a feast with all the money from the gold, had a party, pooped (since they could see tiny balls of dirt on the grass everywhere), and they all went back underground (leaving clues behind) expecting to come out again next year. Tada!
The effect of all this was that they decided we have to make a much smarter trap next time. They decided to modify a few elements - 1)the opening door size, 2)something tied to the door so that when he falls in, the door should automatically close behind leaving no chance for him to escape, 3) putting paint inside the trap so that even if he escapes we can track him by the paint footprints he would leave behind. Now all that is analytical & critical thinking!
Caterpillars!!!
Yippie our caterpillars have grown and with them our kids have grown in their skills of observation :-) We look at the caterpillars every day and draw our observation. There is so much to compare and contrast (comparing them to today and previous days), there are so many different things that we notice when we learn to observe them closely.
Coloring our "Purple room observation" poster board...
Observations...
It was U week and we spoke a lot about 'under' stuff. They got interested in digging the bugs 'under' the salt heap, catching them, and taking them out with a special scissors (where lots of fine motor was practiced since it was not easy to work with those).
P singing, 'The ants go marching one by one hurrah hurrah!'
L working on his grip...
W hiding the bugs under the salt for J to look for...
D trying to catch more tham two with the scissors...
C picking the bees to feed the grasshoppers...
For letter U we worked on letter U collages, colored Unicorns and even galloped them on the ramp, and made Umbrellas.
Letter U collages...
Coloring...
Galloping Unicorns...
O looking at L and S galloping their Unicorn and asking them what they were doing...
Making Umbrellas and adding rain drops too...
Last Friday we all waited to make the Upside-down cake. The upside down word seemed very fun to them and we all tried standing upside down for at least a minute (with some teachers help) and talked how everything looks upside down. Some even walked on their hands while upside down and realized that it was so much better to walk with our feet :)
Talking about the recipe directions...
Adding ingredients...
Whisking/beating and feeling the different levels of speed. It was fun as they felt and saw their hand vibrate at different speeds as they moved from lower to higher speeds and visa versa..
Spreading pineapple on the base (Under )and batter on top and discussing how when we flip what will happen (they guessed right away that the pineapple will be on top and cake on bottom!)
Other highlights of the week...
Making Shamrocks on St. Patrick's Day
Working with green playdough all week...
Enjoying the tire run outdoors (they really practiced a lot for this one)!
Finally the race...
Other activity they loved was coloring Under the table pretending to be Michael Angelo.
We also spoke about the difference of coloring on top and coloring under the table.
Overall we had a tremendous week with their increased interest and willingness to work and participate in different things of their choice!
See you around.
Hugs,
Rashida.
