Grasshopping Tuesday

The day began with the watering of plants by some of our early birds. Wren was interested in touching Libby’s (Ivy’s mom) baby bump just as she was saying her morning goodbyes.  While Jasper, Wren, and Ivy watered plants, Paislie was busy getting her hair did by Theo. They were there for quite some time! As we were heading inside, we noticed an abundance of grasshoppers crawling and jumping in the grass, we decided to follow some around. We noticed some were green and some were brown. Jasper, Joey, Wren and Ivy were immediately captivated by these jumping creatures, but soon every one was chasing grasshoppers with us. We talked about how they hopped, jumped, and flew. Ivy was so excited that she started tearing grass from the ground and yelling “grasshopper, grasshopper!” We told her that that was just “grass” and the grasshoppers are bugs! We followed them into the garden, then across the “mountains” as Wren and Joey like to call them, and saw one green one hanging out on the fence. This is when Teo arrived and joined the fun. We all hopped like grasshoppers inside to wash hands, go potty, and begin snack. After snack we did another hand washing and soon the telephones were off the hook! Teo took the liberty of bringing some cars over while Alanna, Paislie, and Theo were all talking to “grandma” on the phone. I said hi to a few grandma’s, and we built things and drove cars. Koichi was peacefully studying a book about bugs. Circle time began and we did our days of the week song. It was a great success, and after we learned that today is the 21st, we looked out the window to check the weather, this is always one of Teo's favorite things to do. Partly cloudy and breezy was the consensus. Then, we started reading a book about bugs! When saw pictures of crickets, Dom turned her cricket ringer on, and we all listened carefully to the familiar sound. Wren, Paislie, Joey, Alanna, and Teo were especially curious about the cricket sound!

Again, we hopped out the door for some last minute free play (circle time was extended because they were so into the bug book!). When we got outside, Jasper, Theo, Ivy, Wren, Alanna, and Paislie found a puzzle with a dinosaur. With a little help from our friends, we were able to put it together. Joey and Koichi showed us how dinosaurs (especially T-rexes) growl! Theo got busy showing all his friends how he had a “baby take bath” and a “baby in cup.” As we went inside, some of our friends were very quick to take their shoes off, while Joey, Theo, Wren,  Ivy, and Alanna got really focused on the task at hand. Once they realized how “frustrating” it might be to take off shoes by themselves, I encouraged them to help each other, and soon everyone was tugging at each other’s feet, including mine! Every one was having difficulty, but Joey was able to discover the secret hand positions that allow shoes to come off of feet. He went around saying “I help you” and every one stuck out their feet as he helped them remove their shoes. Theo got busy balancing shoes on the railing as we often do, saying “I put them up there.” When we got inside we all washed hands and had lunch. Teo said “all done” after each course, probably in hopes of washing his hands each time! Once we got to nap time, Jasper was so tired that he fell asleep reading a book! He was the first one to fall asleep.

When the little ones started waking, Koichi was quick to get a book about going potty that makes a flushing noise. He took it into the book cave where he knows it’s harder for friends to find him. Later, we brought out our “small plants” and every one had a turn spraying water on the plants. Koichi, Jasper and Teo turned it into a spraying game, getting each other wet. Later, we used the sprayers and paper towels to clean the chalk board. Once it was closer to second snack, we found books to bring to the table, and every one was interested in reading. After snack and washing hands, we got busy using magnets with Dom’s guidance, and Koichi was able to make our magnet tower super huge! We mentioned a dance party and Jasper and Wren got super excited. Ivy’s mix cd was popped in and every got to cutting a rug. Teo was hopping around, Jasper was jumping and flailing his arms, Joey was running in circles, Alanna and Wren danced together, and Ivy was jumping with loud stomps.

We finally hopped outside to end the day, and what a glorious one it was!