Monday morning was a snowy one in Cincinnati.
Time to bring the outdoors in!!!
The children loved using water colors and brushes to make our crisp white snow colorful.
Try this one at home!
Caught you sampling the supplies!!!
Search with the magnet wand and discover is the jingle bells are magnetic!
Our rice was peppermint scented…happy the holidays are here in the classroom!
This week we learned about turkeys during our science day! We had a child dress up as a turkey, and we talked about the various parts of the turkey. We taped a red scarf on the child’s chin to represent the “wattle” and talked about how the male turkey changes colors when he is scared, happy, or sick.
Next we discussed how a male turkey struts around to impress the females…
…he fans out his tail feathers like a peacock and drags his wings on the ground.
We discussed the differences between domestic and wild turkeys.
In one of our small groups, we talked about turkeys having 2 stomachs. We used water bottles to represent a turkey’s stomachs. We broke up graham crackers and put berries in the bottle, then poured water into the bottle (pretending it was the “gastric juice” breaking down the food)….
We watched the “gastric juice” soften the crackers before moving to the “second stomach.”
Next we poured rocks into the bottle because turkeys swallow rocks to help with their digestion in their second stomach, called the “gizzard”. The children shook up the bottle with the rocks and watched the rocks mash up the crackers.
The end results were not pretty…but digestion just isn’t a beautiful process. 🙂
In another small group, the children drew a diagram of a turkey…including the two stomachs.
It may only be November but the snow was falling in Cincinnati.
We talked about the weather forecast the day before and discussed what we needed to bring to school to prepare for the fluffy white stuff. HATS! COATS! MITTENS!
It hit 30 degrees so we bundled up and headed out for a quick 10 minutes of exploration on the playground.
Did I mention that one of our classmates brought in a “Let’s Make a Snowman!” kit from home?!
If this is what winter is going to inspire, we will be ready!
Today was a science day! We were able to cut into pumpkins and explore the various features and parts of a pumpkin.
First, we cut into a “normal”, orange, round pumpkin. We noted its color and parts.
We talked about how a pumpkin has “ribs” on the outside…so the children felt their own ribs.
Next we removed the pulp and seeds to see the cavity.
We were curious if a red, yellow, and green pumpkin would be orange in the middle. We also wanted to see what shape the cavity would be…
It IS orange!!!
The cavity was long and “squished.” The children said it looked like the shape of a bow tie, sunglasses, hair bow, etc.
The children enjoyed seeing pictures of the world’s biggest pumpkin pie and biggest pumpkin.
We broke down the parts of the pumpkin and drew a diagram of the inside of a pumpkin. (tendril, leaves, stem, skin, pulp, cavity, and seeds)
During our small groups, we did various activities to extend our pumpkin lesson.
{group #1}
::fine motor::
Counting pumpkin seeds and putting them on a grid
{group #2}
::literacy extension::
We read “From Seed to Pumpkin”, which teaches the children more about how a pumpkin is formed, the steps it takes to become a ripe pumpkin, how the plant makes its own food, and what the pumpkin needs to grow (air, water, sun, etc.).
{group #3}
::art extension::
We took the diagram drawn during our group time and made our own diagram. With each step, we talked about the various parts and how a pumpkin looks when we cut it in half.
Creative Tots has specialized in the private education of both toddlers and preschool age children for over 15 years. We began in the heart of Madeira and now also have a new Mason location. We are specifically designed to focus on early childhood development for children ages 18 months to 5 years.
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