september 7
We were very excited to find some new caterpillar friends in our learning space when we arrived! We spent a good chunk of the morning peering into the glass jar and counting the number of caterpillars inside. “There’s one big one and one little one!” “I see three chrysalises!!” We noticed that the monarch caterpillar spins a uniquely beautiful chrysalis. It’s bright green with a “glittery gold stripe” around the middle. While watching the caterpillars was lots of fun, we also enjoyed putting our butterfly life cycle cards in the correct sequence. “First there’s the egg. Then the VEERRRY hungry caterpillar comes out and eats everything!” “Maybe its mom didn’t pack a lunch.”
Before heading to the park, we took turns using a pump to fill the back tires of the stroller with more air. We did a great job taking turns and giving each other space :)
In the park, we played on the secret bridge — tossing clumps of dried grass into the rushing creek and watching it get whisked away. Then, we searched for milkweed and collected a handful of leaves to feed to the caterpillars. We know it’s milkweed because it’s milky :)
In the pine forest, we used the sun and a large pad of paper to cast shadows. We had so much fun tracing the shadows with markers as well as creating our own designs. We also made more roads for our animals to travel along and more gates at the entrance of each animal’s home.
Back at school, we rolled a large die and practiced counting the dots. Once we knew how many dots there were, we searched through the cork boards to find the corresponding number. Then, we followed the lines of that number with thumb tacks. Eventually, we created our own game where we tossed the die into the air and then raced over to wherever it landed to count the dots. We had a lot of energy today :)
At the art table, we rolled clay into “sausages” (inspired by Ridley’s lunch) and practiced cutting them into tiny pieces. We also mixed various bits of clay together to try and make our skin color. We learned that mixing colors to make a specific shade of a new color is kinda tricky, but not impossible.
We ended our day with a fun game of Who’s Under the Blanket. We loved dancing around to music and listening carefully for the music to stop. When the music stopped, we curled up into little balls on the floor and Deidre covered someone up with the blanket. When she said, “Open your eyes!”, we sat up and tried to figure out who was hiding. Ridley’s mom and Rigel’s dad even played the game with us! It was the best!