The trees are green and the insects are buzzing.  It was nice to have the shade from all of the leaves on this toasty week.  We spent lots of time outside enjoying the weather.  The children were busy singing and dancing, playing tag, tilling up our garden, and making up lots of fun stories and games.   We finally planted some flower seeds in our garden, with hopes that they will grow while we are away for the summer.


We found and observed many insects this week, including a dead bumblebee, ants and their larva which we dug up in the playground, some large Six Spotted Tiger Beetles wandering around the classroom, lightning bugs, and of course some caterpillars, flies, and mosquitos.

At the art table the children made some chalk and buttermilk drawings.  The buttermilk makes the chalk brighter and shinier on the paper, creating a nice effect. They also began making butterflies by painting the paper plate wings. Some of the butterflies were quite colorfully decorated.



The students had a wonderful time scooping melon balls out of watermelons.  They dropped them into little cups then used a toothpick to eat them.  Some of those children got very, very full of watermelon!



A light table was set up and the children enjoyed building with the Magnatiles on it throughout the week.  There were some pretty impressive structures erected, and it was neat to see the different colors created when the Magnatiles were placed on top of each other over the light.



As we began to wrap up the year during circle time, we added more kind deeds to the kindness chain, then hung it over the chimney for students to add links during the final week.  We played an insect guessing game with the magic box.  When the insect was described, the children used the clues to determine which insect was hidden inside. We had fun doing the parachute and the ribbon sticks and dancing around.  The children have been singing their animal songs daily so they will be well prepared for the last day presentation.  We also read the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, and the children enjoyed playing with the Three Bear’s House during work time.  Everyone was anxious to have an opportunity to use it, but the children worked well together taking turns and waiting patiently.





On Friday, the students examined their bean plants that sprouted from the seeds they planted several weeks ago.  It was quite exciting to see how much they have grown, from one small white bean, to a plant with roots, a stem, and leaves.  They drew pictures of their bean plants in their science notebooks, then  took them home to plant.  We spent a lot of time outside playing on the green – visiting the wolf, dancing and singing on the gazebo, and playing Frisbee and toss.  We made thank you cards for Gerrie Scott, who will be reading to us for the last time on Monday.   We finished the day by planting some pumpkin seedlings sent in by Grammy Riff, so hopefully we will have some beautiful pumpkins in the fall.