Last week we had five fully formed butterflies and was it time to care for them and release them. At the beginning of the week we fed them fresh flowers and fruits dipped in sugar water.
Friends enjoying seeing the butterflies flutter and play...
During the week as a team we all decided to free our butterflies into their natural habitat...however, before doing so we spoke all about the new world, the new tricks, the new things the butterflies will have to learn by themselves to adapt to the new habitat. Also friends wanted to make sure that the wings of the butterflies were dry enough for them to fly since this part had been a topic of our discussions. So they were really concerned. After assurance from teachers they felt good :)
We all gathered outside to bid farewell to our butterflies...
We opened the cover of the net and friends used encouraging words such as, "You can do it butterflies," "Go, go, go butterflies," "You will love the world, butterflies." Some even said, "We will miss you," "You are very pretty," "Come visit us again", "We love you," etc. It was a very touching moment!
Looks like after listening to their encouraging words, one butterfly flew to the edge of the net..."Yeah!" everybody exclaimed.
...and then it flew away. We watched for as long as we could :)
We even saw one butterfly who was using its long curly tongue to suck the nectar from the fruit. We had learned as a fact in one of our books. Friends were excited to see that black tongue in real life!
Soon one by one they all flew away and we wished them lots of luck in their lives!
That week was our Pajama and Pancake day which we all were waiting for! It was such a pleasure to be in our comfy jammies while enjoying hot pancakes.
The big box was heavy and everyone had a chance to lift it. Some said, "It is too heavy," while some shrugged their shoulders saying, "Oh, it's very light for m," showing off their muscles ;)
That day most of the group was wearing pink and blue and friends decided to make two batches of pink and blue pancakes! Luckily we even found matching bowls :)
We carefully read the recipe and stated putting ingredients one after the other in each colored bowl.
Again, egg cracking was just super fun!
Mixing is always a symbol of their self esteem where they want to feel competent and see a nice mixture when everything is blended and is ready to cook!
The last step was to add the chosen food colors!
Love the contrast...K in pink mixing the blue batch, and R in blue mixing the pink batch. Aren't colors so amazing and look so beautiful in contrast?
It was time for the final product. Everyone agreed to pink going first, so we spread butter on the flat griddle and poured the batter on to start cooking...
We even compared the different sizes and shapes of the hot cakes and saw them turn brown!
While the pancakes were cooking, we watched a video about an artist who makes art out of pancakes on griddles and enjoys eating them!
We tried doing the same thing and made butterfly art! We spoke about being ok if it didn't turn out quite as we wanted :)
But, tada...our hard work paid off. We enjoyed our creation and were so proud of it!
Enjoying the pink hot cakes with whipping cream and maple syrup!
Friends asked for more and more and enjoyed them to the last crumb!
Letter S
We decorated our letter S and made them look like snakes...
From sheep to wool...
N's mom C volunteered that week to talk to the children about sheep and shearing. She bought all of kinds of cool stuff to show, the most fascinating being the spinning wheel! We even saw videos on how the sheep's wool was cut, just like we get a hair cut, and talked about how sheeps feel, why they need that, what happens after, how do they grow back the wool, etc etc.
Friends feeling the raw wool that just came off the sheep.
J, C's friend also helped out. She showed us a manual spinner that made woolen threads out of raw wool. Children were amazed to see these new kinds of tools!
C showed us how wool was spun into thread/ yarn on the spinning wheel! Friends related the spinning wheel to a bike with two pedals :) Smart, huh!
We later did activities related to wool.
We washed and dried raw wool...
We brushed the wool to make it look like hair...
We made colorful sheep out of dyed wool...some friends glued wool like strings while some friends circled the wool like the curly wool on the sheep.
We tried weaving wool with a manual weaver and it was tricky, but fun.
Overall, it was a whole new experience for most of us. Thank you to N's mom for opening up a entire new topic of fun and interest. Children still remember their experiences and talk about it!
We ended our week by making animal creations with a stick and other open-ended accessories...
L colored his stick and is molding a clay head for his animal/bug...
K is gluing jewels on her creation...
M chose to color her stick with the colors of her dress and is giving her art many facial features...
L working on her decorations...
L adding sparkles to his bird wings...
D said his many eyed animal is laying an egg :)
While A chose to fix the egg as a tail in her creation...
Our children are so ready to explore the world and things around them with their unique perspectives in mind. Teachers are awed by their power of imagination and creations! Way to go, kiddos!
Keep seeing you around!
Hugs,
Teacher Rashida
