september 16
This morning was filled with imaginary play and dress-up. We also found all of the letters in our names, laid them out using our name stones for reference, and then flipped the cards over to reveal fun animals. Autumn turned her “U” card over to find an urchin. Her favorite, though, was the narwhal.
In the park, we had fun drawing on concrete with charcoal. Sylvie and Ridley created many smiling suns :) We also discovered the chain from last year that secures the picnic tables to the Stone Shelter. We are fascinated with this chain and like to try and figure out how to unlock it. We spent quite a while directing one another on how to “break the chain.” Eventually, our arms got tired and we decided to head over to the pine forest.
In the pine forest, we built a sundial to help us track the passing time. We set out three small piles of rocks along the perimeter of the circle. The first pile marked the time we arrived, the second marked lunch time and the third marked clean-up time. As a tree shadow slowly covered our clock, we learned that making sundials beneath trees is probably not the best idea. Oops! So, we moved our sundial to a new, extra sunny spot where it remained until it was time to begin our walk back to school. We loved sitting by the sundial and watching the “shadow line” move, little by little. “How can we make the shadow go faster?” “Can we hurry up the sun so the shadow goes on the next pinecone?” We found that time moves VERY slowly when you’re watching it and when your belly is hungry for lunch :)
To help time pass more quickly, we decided to stop watching the sundial and to play instead. We made tree monsters with play dough and nature treasures. Ridley found a really long stick to use for the nose of his creation. We thought that was so silly! We also took turns swinging in the hammock, which is always a blast.
Right before lunch, The Bird Man surprised us with a visit to the pine forest. He brought us little homemade clipboards, paper, colored pencils and special dinosaur erasures!! We were thrilled! Then, he gave us a drawing lesson — showing us, step-by-step, how to draw a Goldfinch. We took the lesson very seriously and are extremely proud of our bird drawings :)
After rest, we harvested grapes and then helped Matt dump bags of straw into the chicken enclosure. At first we wanted to dump the bags all by ourselves. But, we quickly realized that working as a team made the task easier. So, we paired up to dump the bags and then all worked together to cover the ground with straw. We sang: Spread, spread, spread the straw - Spread it all around - So the chickens do not slip and fall on the ground (to the tune of Row Your Boat). The song made us laugh and so did watching Rigel kick the straw into the air :)
The day ended with pawpaw popsicles, chicken watching, and getting started on a thank you card for The Bird Man. We hope we see him again on Monday!