A tubular Thursday!

Howdy! Today everybody arrived on the playground in the morning (Wynn, Ancel, Noah, Sophie, Olive, and Clara.) We got to say hi to Clara’s brother, Faustin, as he accompanied their dad when dropping off Clara. Due to this amazing fall weather (which is surprising we’re experiencing it here in Texas) we stayed out just a little later before going in for snack this morning.

                Once we arrived inside for snack, Arielle sat on the floor with the tots and sang Old McDonald as Cherokee helped them wash their hands one-by-one (a routine we started this week to keep everybody focused on the hand-washing and snack transitions.) We enjoyed some yummy pears and raspberries and did the good ole calendar routine. We also changed our weather status from sunny to cloudy, and talked about how today was an overcast type of day. Ancel showed off his super rad sushi bib to all his friends. Arielle, a big-time sushi enthusiast was probably the most excited about it (it’s her favorite food!)

                After snack we took a minute to play and tear up cotton balls. It didn’t take long for our friends to finish that short-lived activity. We transitioned into circle time and sang the Hello song, followed by the ABC song. Then we discussed the color orange and admired Cherokee’s burnt orange UT shirt. Daniel the dinosaur puppet asked her where to head next, and she said “playground!” (since we have been going to the deck in the afternoon to enjoy this awesome weather as much as we can before it goes away.)

                As we walked to the playground we all heard somebody using a weed whacker outside our fence. Wynn was very interested in seeing where the sound was coming from. Ancel made a drink on the playground using a play coffee cup and mulch. He walked up to Arielle and said “drink! Drink!” Arielle pretended to drink up his delicious beverage. Olive showed off her dress and boots and she strolled up and down the ramp with a huge smile on her face. Sophie engaged in one of her all-time favorite playground activities: going up and down the playscape stairs (she can’t get enough of it, and she’s getting very good at it, too!) One of our artists, Clara, walked around the playground with a piece of chalk, and eventually met up with Olive at the water table, followed by Wynn (they are starting to play together more and more, which is a fun developmental stage that will definitely take place more often when they are two. For now their age group engages in more solo and parallel play experiences.) Noah spent most of his morning observing the playground happenings, something almost all new sprouts do their first few days at school. He eventually made his way to the sandbox and returned to the teachers shortly afterwards, where he cuddled with Arielle.

                Olive moved on to rolling the popper around and showing it off. Clara increased the number of chalk that she had from one piece to two (one in each hand) and proudly strutted around the playground with them. Ancel checked out a grackle sitting on the fence and tried to catch it when it flew down to the grass. Noah sat in Arielle’s lap (he’s such a snuggly guy) and then checked out the popper (it’s a famous toy here at Green Sprout.) Sophie chilled by the garden and Wynn joined Clara for some fun with chalk…and then gave her a kiss on her hair! What a flirt! Suddenly the toddlers came running out to greet us and Olive received hugs and kisses from Wren (we tend to get intimate here at the Sprout.) J

                Lunch was relaxing and delicious, and we said goodbye to Wynn when his mom came to get him after he finished lunch (he was heading to Houston to see his Bela.) Most of our friends were pretty tired and fell asleep right after lying down on their nap mats.

                After nap we did some painting with orange paint on butcher paper. The kiddos are getting used to the painting routine and more and more independent when it comes to working on the group project (we do not have to ask them to stay at the table or keep the brushes out of their mouth as much as we used to a few weeks ago.) Leona arrived at 3:00 and we enjoyed snack while she provided an enriching and fun Spanish-language experience. We love her so much and look forward to her cool lessons every Wednesday and Thursday! Afterwards, we explored the deck and playground. It’s been a great Thursday.

*Don’t forget to dress your sproutlet in brown tomorrow (if you’d like, of course) as we will explore that color both tomorrow and on Tuesday. J

*Arielle is hosting a Parents’ Night Out on Saturday (10-6-12) from 6pm-12am. It’ll cost $40 ($60 for siblings) and you can sign up on the sheet posted on our bulletin board (next to the daily sign in/out sheet.)

*Sunday (10-7-12) is our potluck and fall gardening party! Please join us for some delicious dishes and fall gardening fun! We’ll also install a climbing dome in the playground and could use your help in setting it up and creating our fall garden.

*We are closed on Monday (10-8-12) in observance of Columbus Day. Feel free to sign up for Parents’ Day Out if you would like your sprout to attend school that day. It’ll be hosted by Toni and Dom, two super cool teachers.

*The weekly class email was sent today, so check your inboxes! Thanks!