Eventful Thursday!

We got started with our Thursday activities early and every one was involved. We learned that the “straight side” of a puzzle piece could be called the “edge” or the “border.” Theo was sure to say “oh” as we pointed these special pieces out. Alanna was excited that the picture was a castle and kept saying “Jackie! Dom Dom! It’s a castle!” When Paislie fit pieces she said, “Oh, look!” Asher spent a good amount of time trying to fit together pieces whose shape seemed to fit, but had different pictures. We learned that looking at the colors and shapes could help us find pieces that fit together. Teo was very involved in pointing out different parts of the pictures to help us match them, and Olive was excited to adjust and pat down pieces that fit! After time focusing, every one had a case of the wiggles, and since we couldn’t go outside (due to the rain) we decided it was time for a dance party. We turned the lights down low and grabbed different kinds of cool lights. Theo was excited to shine the lights on different body parts and talk about how the lights move on him. Alanna had fun shining the lights on her friends and telling her friends, “Look Paislie, look Olive…” At one point, Olive and Noah were each trading black lights and shining them against their socks and shoes. Ivy waited very patiently for a turn with a particular light, and when she finally got it, she was super excited to shine it on her body. Then, we sat down to read a book and have circle time while we set up to make jello. We read Where’s my Dinosaur? and friends had fun pointing him out, hidden in the picture. Finally, we were ready to receive spoons to help us mix the jello. During this time, Cherokee came for a short visit, and gave a big hug to every one. First, we observed the steam that was coming from the hot water in the bowl and talked about the “vapor.” Each person had a chance to stir the mixture, and every one was very focused on finding parts of powder that needed mixing.  

As we prepared our second batch of jello, every one had a chance to sort through shells, sequins, and “jewels.” Friends were asked to pick out the jewels and save them for the jello. One by one, we dropped the jewels into the jello to watch some float and some sink. After this activity, we washed hands and had snack. After snack, we moved on to Play-Dough. Each person got to pick the color of their choice, and they were quick to start making different objects, or start exploring the qualities of the dough.  Alanna was busy making fat snakes and counting them. Ivy made every one blueberry pancakes, and Olive was very happy to put the crab-shaped cookie cutter on top of her dough and exclaim, “crab!” Every one had a blast. We each switched toys by giving our toy to the person on our left, and then switched colors by giving our play-dough to our friend on the right.  Finally, friends started moving on to other projects, but Paislie remained engrossed in the play-dough activity until lunchtime. (She was seen brushing her hair with one of the play dough tools as well).

After lunch, we were delighted to find out that the skies were clearing up and the ground was dry enough for play. As we headed out, Teo, Theo, Asher and Noah were particularly interested in observing the sprouts growing from the seeds we planted last week. Each day we’ve been making it a point to invite every one to see how our sprouts are growing each day as part of our focus on the environment. The cool crisp air was a lovely way to end our day!