Busy, busy, busy!  So much was going on at Sunnybrook this week!

We spent some recesses inside and some out.  We are so ready for warmer weather and lots of outside time!   Too bad Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow on Monday.

Monday students continued to examine the art of Paul Klee.  This week they made pictures using geometric shapes, in the style of his painting “Castle and Sun.”

At the art table the children made their Valentine mailboxes for our Valentine celebration next Thursday.  They are quite excited to give and get Valentines!

On Tuesday morning we visited the Post Office and had a tour.  We learned all about how the mail is sorted and delivered.  We had lots of questions, and Tim answered them all!  It was very interesting to be in the back room and see where packages and letters are delivered by the mail trucks, where the mail is sorted out, then boxed up to be delivered to homes or placed in the PO boxes.  As soon as we returned to the classroom everyone was anxious to get to work on their coloring books.

We set up our very own post office in the classroom, where everyone has a mail box.  The children have been very busy writing and delivering mail to each other all week.

We learned how to properly write a letter by writing a thank you letter to Tim.  We learned where to put the date, how to address it, where the body of the letter goes, and how to end it.  We also learned how to address an envelope so that it could be delivered properly, and to always include the return address.

There was a lot of energy this week, so circle time involved lots of movement.  We learned a new song, “One Green Jellybean,” which we had a lot of fun dancing to.  We also continued learning some Valentine songs, including “Skidamarink,” “A Tisket, A Tasket,” and “Mail Myself to You.”

We began our study of reptiles this week.  We read About Reptiles, which informed us that reptiles have scaly, waterproof skin, short legs or no legs, lay eggs, and include lizards, snakes, turtles, and alligators & crocodiles.  The children were constantly studying and playing with our collection of reptile toys.  They are quite realistic and the children are getting skilled at identifying them, including the frilled lizard, alligator snapping turtle, rough green snake, alligators, crocodiles, giant tortoise, bearded dragon, sidewinder rattler, horned lizard, etc.

On Thursday we celebrated a 4^th birthday.  The birthday girl gave everyone a princess crown mask, spiderman mask, or ninja turtle mask.  We helped her count as she held the globe and orbited the sun four times, then we all enjoyed some delicious chocolate cake.

One of our friends returned to school on Thursday after spending time with her family in Jamaica.  She thoughtfully brought gifts of banana chips and a Jamaican flag bracelet for everyone.  Those chips were yummy, and everyone loved sporting their bracelets.  Thank you, friend!  It is great to have you back with us!

We also learned about percussion instruments and had a lot of fun playing some.  We took turns playing drums, sticks, maracas, tambourines, and tone blocks.  We all played together to a count of four, and we played quietly, then louder and louder, then quietly again like rain or a passing train, and really loudly then gradually quieter like a rocket ship blasting off.

For Friday science the children focused on the 4 terrestrial planets, Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars.  We learned interesting facts about each planet, compared their sizes and their order from the sun.  We all took turns being the sun and/or the planets orbiting the sun, then we molded them out of clay, being sure to make Mercury the smallest and Earth the largest.