Well, let me start out by saying that the kids were markedly more subdued this time around, I think owing to the fact that they were more used to our house and not all excited by a new environment. Thank goodness!
Day #15: Scarecrows Our letter of the week was "H", so we started out by talking about
things that start with H and doing some sound chanting. Below is Ethan saying "Hhha, Hhha,
Hhha, HAMMER!"
For our snack we made scarecrow faces, i.e. hamburger buns, pretzel sticks, peanut butter, and raisins. I don't know if anyone actually ate all of the components as a whole, but I think they all enjoyed the peanut butter on a hamburger bun.
I had made a little scarecrow puzzle, with five big pieces, and the kids LOVED putting it together over and over again, and they even did a good job cooperating in trying to get all their pieces in the right places. This is an activity that will be repeated!
We also made little scarecrows out of paper bags and popsicle sticks. These may or may not have turned out looking an awful lot like voodoo dolls. Sorry about that . . . My artistic abilities are sooo limited!
During playtime the kids loved playing with some new Little People that our little guy Eli got for his birthday a few weeks ago. I am constantly amazed at how truly good these kids are at sharing; they'll fight for a minute and then just give in and share.
Under the stairs is always a favorite place to play!
Day #16: Halloween Party!! The kids seemed to sense that this day was special somehow, and they were extra excited. We started out with some movin' and groovin' to "Monster Mash". Even Mason, who's usually pretty reserved, got a little rambunctious (in a good way!). Throughout the morning whenever I'd go into the kitchen to get something, I'd come back to find them hiding their heads in the couch like ostriches, after which they'd jump around and start screaming. They were so hilarious!!!
These guys LOVE pizza! I gave them each a ball of dough -- ostensibly to form a pumpkin-shaped pizza -- and they went to town smooshing their dough, stretching it, and eventually eating it (don't worry, no eggs). They also enjoyed eating the cheese and pepperonis that were supposed to go on their pizzas. I was hard pressed to get them to relinquish their little pizzas so they could cook!
Here are the finished pizzas, l-r from the top: Mason's, London's, Ethan's, Lucy's, Jack's. Jack was a purist and didn't want anything but the dough for his pizza. In fact, he just wanted to eat all his dough. He may come by this genetically.
We also played some Pumpkin Bingo, told flannel-board stories, and decorated trick-or-treat bags. I had planned a lot more activities, but they took so much time making and eating their pizzas, that I decided to let them have playtime (which is what they really wanted to do anyway), instead of making them do some of the games I had planned. Overall, I think they had a great time. They are so excited about Halloween, and I'm afraid this party just made them more excited!
Bates Nut Farm was impressive. Next year I think the field trip should happen the first week of October. The crops initially appeared to be more of a "pumpkin wasteland." However, we were able to find some pumpkins still on the vine and lots of smashed-open pumpkins with seeds to observe. After we had a little discussion on pumpkins in the pumpkin fields, we explored more of the farm. They had a petting zoo, pony rides, a straw maze, and a tractor ride. Everyone went on the tractor ride.
We started our lesson by talking about the letter G. Then we moved into discussing gratitude, our value of the week. I used Janeen Brady's "Standin' Tall" book and CD on Gratitude. I have the series, so if any of you moms would like to borrow one for your lesson, let me know. Here is a link to the different values in the series in case you are interested.
The cutest part about the whole thing was that during snack time when I had the music from the Gratitude book playing, the kids heard the line "Having a gratitude attitude shows appreciation!" and each one of them turned to me and said thank you (for snack time.) Yay!
After we discussed gratitude, we transitioned into talking about pumpkins. We read a book that went through the life of a pumpkin. At the end of the book it talked about people choosing pumpkins at a pumpkin patch. I mentioned to them that we would all be visiting a real pumpkin patch tomorrow and they all got pretty excited.
We played with a felt board pumpkin. I had each child come up to the board and arrange the pumpkin the way they chose. After a lot of trial and error, the children came up with their favorite pumpkin face.
For snack time we had pumpkin pie, sliced apples, and graham crackers. Lucy and Mason did not want any pumpkin pie at first, but after they saw how much Ethan and Jack were enjoying their pie, they decided they wanted a slice also.
After snack time we had a stick puppet theater based on the story "The Halloween Pumpkin" by Pamela Oldfield. I couldn't find the book at any of the libraries, so I ended up making my own story and rhyme. Later, I heard the children chanting the rhyme I made up "I'm a mean old pumpkin, a mean old pumpkin, I like to scare you, a mean old pumpkin a mean old pumpkin, watch out! BOO!" I am going to try and attach the video of them running around trying to scare each other...
I read them a rather lengthy book in Spanish about the way pumpkins grow. Lucy and Mason were especially into it. On one page I opened where there is a field of green pumpkin leaves growing, Mason exclaimed "Beautiful!" We learned pumpkin in Spanish is calabaza and I taught them the expression "Que pasa calabaza?" We also reviewed anaranjado for orange.
We read another book of choice then had a pumpkin mask activity. I think they enjoyed making them, but they really seemed to enjoy having them to play with.
Our class was all about the way the trees change in the fall. We did a felt board story about squirrels and how they use this time to prepare for winter. We talked about leaves and the different colors they can be. We practiced green, yellow, orange, red, & brown in Spanish. We read books about the letter G and talked about its two different sounds. We read a book about Grapes and then had a snack of graham crackers and grapes with walnuts. We talked about how squirrels like to eat nuts.
We took a field trip outside to collect leaves and then made a "Signs of Fall" collage. The value of the week is GRATITUDE, we'll discuss it along with Pumpkin Patches on Thursday. This Friday is the field trip to Bates Nut Farm. Yay!
London had asked me to use the bathroom. I told her to go right ahead. A few minutes later she called with her little voice, "Ms. Natalie? I need some help." When I came into the bathroom she was on top of the sink vanity trying to get the water on. Her cousin Mason walked in and said "Woah, how'd she get up there?" I thought it was hilarious.
Throwing "leaves" into the air.
Grapes, Graham crackers, and walnuts.
Searching for leaves.
This art project was actually really great because it was more of a free-form activity. The children were allowed to tape, glue, or color on this large sheet of butcher paper.
