"Over in the Meadow" Felt Board Story

We are studying the weather changes that come in the spring, including the animals coming out when it starts to get warm. So, I decided to read the book Over in the Meadow and made some felt board animals to along with it. This book is great for counting and rhyming and learning about what different animals do. 

Chronicles of Summertime: Day 20

Day 20:
We went to Inniswood Metro Gardens again today. Snugglepuppy loved playing in the water. That was his favorite part and then he kept asking for the playgound which they don't have. But we went down to the wetlands and across the bridge at the Sister's Garden where we saw lots of frogs!

That was pretty much our day besides our pizza pizza party. Snugglepuppy only took one bite of pizza though. Then bed time!

Chronicles of Summertime: Day 10

Day 10:
Today, we had a picnic of McDonald's at the park. I know it's not the healthiest choice, but Snugglepuppy has been good all week and plus I didn't really feel like making anything. So Snugglepuppy made some friends at the park as usual. He played on the swings and the playground with his happy meal toy, a matchbox car.

We also planted some seeds in small pots. Snugglepuppy picked out Aster flower seeds at the store, so that what we planted. I tend to be very bad at growing plants, so I am not sure if these will even grow. We left them out on the deck in the sun, so I guess we will see what happens.

We had our pizza pizza party in the basement.

Before bed, I introduced some new books to Snugglepuppy, the "How Do Dinosaurs...?" series by Jane Yolen. I have 5 of them and we read How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight? and How Do Dinosaurs Get Well Soon? Snugglepuppy loved them and I hope he learns something from them!

Creepy Crawly Critter Creations

We did an insect study this week. We talked about parts of an insect and then the students used popsicle sticks and other art materials to create their own insect/critter. Here is how they turned out.

Springtime in Preschool

We are studying Spring in our class this month. Here are some photos of how we arranged the dramatic play area into a Spring area.

Frogs on lily pads with cattails.

Logs made from rolled up brown construction paper and little plastic butterflies, lily pads and frogs.

Light table against the wall with bean bags around it to sit on.

This interactive wall has foam cutouts of fish, ducks, and frogs that are stuck on with velcro so kids can take them down and put them up how they want. There are also words stuck on with velcro to match with the animals. Our table is decorated with flowers and a watering can and there are dishes and food available for kids to have a picnic if they want.

We also planted flowers in cutoff water bottles. Here are a couple of pictures.

Happy Spring and hope you enjoy some fun activities with your kiddos!

I'm linking up at:

Wildflower Hunt

We went to the Metro Gardens a few weeks ago and walked along the boardwalk trail. We happened to pick up this brochure that shows different types of wildflowers and where you can find each of them along the trail between the numbered markers.

While I was not able to take any photos of wildflowers on the trail while pushing a stroller, I do have some from around the neighborhood (Thanks to hubby).

I also found a website where you can put in all the information about wildflowers and it will identify the flower. There is an app that you can download for your phone as well.

Thinky Linky Thursday

<a href="http://preschoolteacher81.blogspot.com/search/label/thinky%20linky%20thursday"><img alt="Preschool Teacher" src="http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r103/loriajones/ThinkyLinkyThursButton.jpg"/></a>

MOST CLICKED LINKS FROM LAST WEEK:

Exploring the Ocean-Sensory Fun from We Can Do All Things

Craft Camp-Caterpillars from Having Fun While We Learn

Congrats and here is your featured button:

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Thinky Linky Thursday

<a href="http://preschoolteacher81.blogspot.com/search/label/thinky%20linky%20thursday"><img alt="Preschool Teacher" src="http://i142.photobucket.com/albums/r103/loriajones/ThinkyLinkyThursButton.jpg"/></a>

Here is the featured link from last week. There were only 3 link-ups last week, guess people are busy with their summer plans and taking a break from blogging. So I am only featuring one this week with the most clicks:

Froggy and Turtle Frenzy from School Time Snippets

Bean Growth Experiment and Documentation

We decided to do this experiment to find the answer to our question: Can a seed grow without soil? This question came up during our study of where plants grow. We talked about plants that grow in water, sand, on rocks, and even in snow. 

The first step was to make predictions. Each child voted whether they thought it would grow with no soil. Then we put a pinto bean in a ziplock bag wrapped in a wet paper towel and taped it to the window (April 17). We checked it every few days to see if it was growing. 

Our bean on April 20.

Here is what we wrote in our science journal.

Our bean on April 24.

Here is what we wrote in our science journal.

Our bean on April 26.

Our bean on April 27.

 Our bean on April 30.

We kind of got busy with another project and didn't have a chance to write in the science journal as much after the first 2 times, but here is the documentation board I made using the photos, children's drawings and our predictions from the first day.

Our conclusion: Yes, seeds can grow with no soil!

5/15 UPDATE: Thanks to the suggestion of one reader, I decided to talk to the kids today about why the plant can grow with no soil for a while and why it will need to be planted in soil to continue to grow after it uses all the nutrients from the seed. It went very well and the children seemed to understand. If it wasn't the last week of the school year, I would continue this experiment by planting one of the bean plants in soil and keep the other in the wet paper towel and have the students continue to observe. Oh well, there is always next year.

What kinds of experiments have you been doing?

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