Little Bit of Wild

Check out this fascinating caterpillar we found on the playground this week!  Within minutes of discovering this creature, we noticed and caught a walking stick insect on the back of a school friend!

Two creepy critter discoveries prompted a huge bug hunt on the playground.  We spent the rest of the time searching for and attempting to catch insects and a small spider.  (*All bugs were released at the end!*)  Even though the playground was dew covered and a bit muddy, this bug hunt made our trip outside to explore the little bit of wild worth it.  The children were intrigued, focused, and dedicated to finding more bugs!

In addition to studying the fauna, we also worked with water mills and Squig structures.  The suction cup ends of the Squigs provide an interesting building experience, especially with added buoyancy and adhesive effects of water.

Perhaps the Potato Head families were underestimated in their ability to attract preschool students!  These fun little guys have been a table choice outdoors for a few weeks now, and STILL bring almost every student to the table every time.

The children make different Potato Heads to represent people in their families.  They consider different body parts and are so proud of what they make.  The children want to photo document their creations and ask that the pictures be sent to their parents.  :)

Sometimes reading outside is just the best isn't it?  Unless rain prohibits it (water and books don't mix!), we always have a few readers take a seat on the benches to check out a book.

Finally, everybody loves to stretch their abilities by climbing steps and ladders, crawling through tunnels, and even balancing on the bosu ball.

We LOVE Outside Time at Harmony's House!  Being outdoors helps to mellow our moods, soothe our senses, stimulate our interest in life, earth, and physical science, sync our brains and bodies, and just HAVE FUN.  <3

We Get Wet!

There isn't such thing as bad weather at Harmony's House.  Just wrong clothes!  When you come to play here, remember we are an all-weather preschool and dress for the weather!  :)

Kids learn to have fun in all kinds of weather.  Isn't it wonderful not to require sunny days to be happy?  We practiced opening and closing our child-sized umbrellas.

We put on our rain gear: rain boots, rain suits or pants and rain coat, and umbrellas.  This helps keep our clothes (mostly) dry underneath.

Then we are ready to scoop, pour, measure, dump, float, sink, and splash with the best!

What can you do in the rain?  Hear it patter, feel it fall, catch a rain drop on your tongue, take a duck walk, catch a bowlful, make mud cookies, and stomp in those puddles!  Have fun this week in the wet, wet weather!

Emergent Curriculum Creeping Out of the Grass

Last week we found an Eastern Box Turtle on the playground!  It was super exciting and interesting!  We have started building a unit around turtles to build on this spark of interest.

The day we found him, we talked about how to hold him safely.  Any animal that has a mouth could bite, so use two hands and keep them away from his mouth.  He eats food like leaves and berries, meal worms, and buggies.

(We know he is a male because he has red eyes, bright orange spots on his arms, and a slight indentation on his bottom shell which helps him stay balanced when mounting his mate.)

We talked about how his shell was hard like finger nails.  When he feels scared, he can tuck is head, legs, and tail into the top and bottom parts of the shell to keep them safe.  We noticed his toenails that help him dig.  We observed that this was an animal with bones, dry scaly skin, and no hair.  He does have eyes, mouth, and nose like us.

We read Mossy by Jan Brett later in the day.  This beautifully illustrated book of fiction helps reinforce the idea that wild animals are happiest in their own habitat.  Eastern box turtle populations in this area have been declining due to poaching for pets, getting crushed under cars or lawn mowers, and deforesting the turtle habitat.  We released our box turtle after we handled him just like Mossy was returned to her natural home in the book.

Since we could not keep the wild turtle that we found, we further explored turtle habitats and what turtles need to live in the Block Area with turtle toys, stones, and silk plants.

We created several turtle homes complete with vegetation, pools of water, rock climbing mountains and more!

Seeing the children's interest and knowledge increase through stories and play following a real-life experience has been turtle-ifically awesome!

The Hot Days are Almost Gone

We are looking forward to fall, but since we have a few more warm days we are squeezing in as much water play as we can.  :)

The outdoor Mud Kitchen also continues to be a hit!  So much sensory, scientific, mathematic, and culinary experience is going down here.  It's no wonder the children are totally absorbed in their work.

Sometimes mud is the best part of childhood, right?  ;)

Keeping Cool!

The heat index brought us up to almost 100 degrees today.  Whew that's hot with all the moisture in the air!  We still get our Outside Time in, and these are the ways we try to stay cool even during these hot days.

Read a book!  Yes, we have a Book Area outside as well as inside.  Pull out a mat, find your book, and cool off in the shade.  Outside Time doesn't have to be all gross motor activities, although they are always a choice for the children.  :)

Squigs in water- these awesome little buggers are so fun to squish together and pop apart.  The suction cups hold the pieces together or stick to smooth surfaces.  Today, we used the squigs to build a bridge all the way across the explore table.

 Splashing is inevitable!  Feeling hot?  Just get wet.

Friends "Sandwich" and "Sheep" love working with these water wheels.  They send off water like sprinklers.  We even used them to sprinkle the other table too and cool it off.

Wear a dino-hat!  No sun getting in our eyes here with these funny hats!  ;)

Playground Highlights

This week we had so much fun using giant bubble wands on the playground!  The friends experimented with blowing, twirling, and waving the wands to create enormous bubbles!

Oceans galore on the table... We used ocean counters and Big Notchems on the table to create coral reefs and tell stories.  :)

Planning birthday parties!  It's so much fun to set the table, bake in the mud kitchen, and invite your friends to your awesome party!  So much planning and such fun work!