Playing in the dirt!

With out curriculum out of the way and summer fastly approaching it's time to have some fun!

So what do you find when you play in the dirt? WORMS!

 Our worm project all started when the garden in our outdoor classroom was planted. With kid sized shovels, hoes, rakes and a new digging area it wasn't long before we discovered worms.

The children had tons of questions so we talked about what we know and want to know about worms. So far we know this about worms...

• worms can be BIG and small
• they look like goo
• are black, pink, gray, brown and red
• feel soft
• are slimy
• wiggle
• are in the dirt

Then we talked about what we want to know about worms or questions we had and this is what they came up with

• Can they swim?
• How do they wiggle?
• What do they eat?
• Do worms have body parts?
• Why are they good for the garden?
• How do worms eat?

The worm search has officially begun. Today we found over 14 worms which are now our classroom pets. We learned worms like dirt, moisture (which is "like water"), food and dark, cool places to live. They are good for the garden  because their slimy body has nitrogen in it ("a good stuff the dirt").

Digging for worms

This child is letting the worm "tickle" his hand.

Observing our new pet worms with magnifying glasses.

Much to my amazement, all of the children were more than willing to touch and have worms in their hands.

Our class favorites are the "baby worms"

 

Keep posted for more worms!

We've been busy!

We've had several visitors and a couple more birthdays in our classroom which the children have been so excited about. Hans, a local farmer and our new story man, brought his Semi for us to explore. The children loved getting into the cab and acting like they were driving. They also noticed there was a bed in the truck. Hans told us he likes to take naps when he is waiting in line at ADM where he takes the corn he grows.

Waiting in like to see the inside of the truck.

This friend see what it's like to sit in the driver's seat. 

The seat may be a little too tall for this friend.

We celebrated two birthdays in one week so we made smoothies and cookies to celebrate. It was interesting how many of the children loved the ingredients (yogurt, frozen strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries, and fruit juice), but did not like the smoothies when it was all mixed together. Here are some pictures of us enjoying the smoothies and cookies.

Putting cookies on the pan.

Silly faces while eating smoothies!

YUM!

Today was Valentine's Day and we had a pink and red day in our classroom and made pizzas to enjoy. It was fun deciding what should go on our pizzas first. Some put cheese, some put sauce, some put pepperoni first.

These friends carefully place cheese on their pizzas.

Happy Birthday to You!

We've celebrated two birthday in our classroom so far this month. Miss Laura's birthday was December 4th. We celebrated with Miss Laura last week. The children worked on their writing skills by copying words onto Miss Laura's cards. Some of the children wanted to write "Happy Birthday Miss Laura" while others wanted to say "I love you!" The classroom was decorated with paper balloons, cakes, and candles.

Copying "Happy Birthday Miss Laura!"

These children are working on their cards and the paper decoration that we hung from the ceiling for Miss Laura.

When we celebrated Miss Kaitlyn's birthday by making a cake, but not just an ordinary cake, we turned this cake colors. As a class, we decided to turn the cake batter purple. After pouring in the batter, cracking the eggs, measuring the oil and water and finally mixing it all together we mixed RED and BLUE food coloring together to make PURPLE. It look more that five drops of each color to get the purple color dark enough. One the color was mixed in we put the batter into the pan and the pan into the oven. We set the timer for 30 minutes. It was so hard to wait for the cake to cook, but it sure smelled good. While we waited for our cake to cool we colored our frosting ORANGE by mixing YELLOW and RED food coloring together. Each child got a change to stir and spread the frosting. Then we enjoyed eating our cake. DELICIOUS!

Pouring in the cake batter that "smells like candy!"

This child works hard to cracking the egg open and keep the shell out of the batter.

This child is pouring in the oil slowly.

Everyone helped count the drops of food coloring. They loved how it went "SLAT" when it hit the batter.

Our PURPLE cake is ready for the oven!

Spreading on our ORANGE frosting

Enjoying our PURPLE and ORANGE cake!