messy monday

 It's time to make some new playdough!

"I got the oil!" ESE

"I have the sugar." HW     Sugar?  Hmmmm.  What color is sugar?

"White." HW  Look at what you are holding again?  Do you told me sugar is white.  Does that look like it could be sugar?     "No, it's cinnamon." HW

" I have cinnamon, too." GC

                 

By now we know the routine.  Scoop, pour, pass, share around and around until all the ingredients are in!

"This is for teachers only." ESE

"It looks like slime!" HW

keep stirring and cooking...

ta-da!

playdough!

If you read the blog from friday you  know that some of our friends found a "pumpkin puzzle" in the forest!

You teachers loved your discovery so much that we brought several new pumpkins into the classroom so create our own pumpkin puzzles,

But...our pumpkins are whole...and full of seeds!  What should we do?

Scoop them all out and have a day of messy play and fine motor work!

"When we work together we get bigger seeds."RM

What do you mean bigger seeds?

"When we put our seeds together we get more and bigger, we get more pumpkins." RM

"These seeds are disgusting." RM    You know you can eat them?  "When it's cooked in a pie, pumpkin pie."  

Do you think pumpkin pies are made out of seeds?  

"Yes, it can be."  

When you eat a pie is it crunchy like a see or is it smooth?

"It's the seed."

"I think it's the orange part?"EM

why?

"Because it's the part I like.  It's smooth like my pie." EM

"You should see the inside of my pumpkin.  It's like a spiderweb!" RM

"It feels like goo, like oranges, like gooey orange juice."MT  

Well, it feels like an orange, it looks like an orange and it is orange.  Could it BE an orange?!

"No, because orange can only be this big!" RM

"I made a pumpkin ball!" MT

"No it's a white pumpkin!"DM

What is the inside of a white pumpkin like??

Wow!  The inside is green!

"I don't know how to get them all out." ESE

"I know  Watch this.  I'm just trying so hard.  I got so many as I can." JL

"You got 1,2 3, 4, 5!"

"Ewwwwwwww!" AS

How does it feel?

"Orange!" AS

"We're gonna work together." HW

What is your plan?

Each Friday the children run with complete abandon down the same path, into the same forest, with the same excitement.  And each and every Friday they discover something new.  It is always a balance between running around to see every single thing, and settling in to focus on small moments.  We know as teachers that those first  moments are filled with running, jumping, joy-filled exclamations.  It is only after the children have some time to be in the space that the true magic begins.

Today's running, jumping joy-filled excitement was truly just that!  

 "We're ninjas!"  CF and JL

As I was watching the ninjas I felt a tickle on my back.  And then I felt a tickle on my leg.  And then a tiny poke on my leg.  With each tickly, squeeze and poke I heard a giggle (or two or three!)  I pretended not to notice as I held my phone over my head.

"Gotcha!" I cried out!

"We're playing 'spy on the teachers'." CG

As I moved to capture the spies in action I noticed a friend with a giant stick.  I wasn't surprised to see a friend with a stick in his hand.  Sticks are amazing, fun, and OH SO plentiful in the forest.  And so I asked the question we teachers always ask...

That is a really big stick.  What is your plan?

"I'm going fishing." HW

"Oh wow.  My son LOVES to go fishing.   What are you going to catch?"

"Dinner!"

Your answer made me laugh!  I wondered what kind of dinner you were going to catch?  Maybe an alligator?  Or a turtle?  Or an elephant???

You laughed back at me, "No!  I'm going to catch a catfish." HW

And then you told me all about the lake at your Grandpa's and all the fun you have had there with your cousins.

Your stick is a fishing pole that linked you to a fun memory.

And then, right next to my fisherman was another friend with a stick!

That is a cool stick.  What is your plan?

"It's my super power stick!" MS  

Super power stick.  Wow!  What kind of superpower?     

"Super blueberry power!"  

What does "super blueberry power' help you do?     

"It knocks trees down!"     

There are SO many trees in our forest.  The ones that are down are truly some of our favorites.  I can just imagine your teeny-tiny self summoning up enough power to knock down an entire tree!  And so I asked,

Oh my goodness!  Did you knock these trees down with your super blueberry power?  

"Yes!   PSSSSSSSSHHHHHHH!"

Everywhere I looked I noticed children with sticks in their hands.

"I made that leaf pile." GC     You are using your stick like a tool.  You are raking!

"I'm trying to get that leaf down." MT

    

While some friends were having great adventures, others were on a color adventure!

Ms N read a woodland color book with some friends.  The book commented that sometimes we call a woodland a forest, and their smart brains immediately noticed 

"Hey!  We are in a forest!" JI

Another color book began a great search around the forest for colors that matched what we noticed in the book.

At first we were noticing all the colors that people were wearing.

Your teachers wondered if there were any places we could look to find those colors in nature.

As they looked for all of the colors, we noticed something.  Some of the colors were really easy to find, while others....well...they were just not anywhere!

"Blue and purple don't grow in nature." DM

And that began a GREAT investigation!

There were read leaves, yellow leaves, orange leaves, and green leaves.  Leaves are definitely not blue.

"WAIT!  WAIT!  IT IS!  IT DOES MATCH!!!!" DM

You were SO excited!

But, what is this?  Hey!  It seems like it matches this page too.

"Its magic!" CG

You have discovered a magic leaf

And then..."There's a pumpkin like in the book!" DM

Are there any pumpkins in our forest you silly?

"YES!  Right there!"

You noticed on through the fence in a neighbors yard.

But...your teacher soon discovered that maybe...just maybe our forest does have pumpkins!

After Ms N literally stepped into a pumpkin the Birch friends began searching for all of the pieces to bring to show Ms. L

"It's like a pumpkin puzzle!" CG

MT, that was all you needed to hear to fuel your passion.  You absolutely, positively had to put this pumpkin puzzle together!

"I found the top!" LB

"Hey guys!  I think I found the eye!" HW

"It won't stick together."

"I know, I got some juice from the berries." RM

"We can use a string." HW

These friends were absolutely GOING to solve this puzzle.

But then...we ran out of time...

I wonder...is there a way we might take this discovery into next week?

Stay tuned!