Worm weather has arrived!  Worms were everywhere – in puddles, in the garden, in the sandbox, and under logs.  The children had great fun collecting them and building them a safe spot in the garden where they would have plenty of soil and they could be together with their family.  The hopping balls were hopped around, many games of chase and tag were played, and sand was dug and sculpted.
Monday students were introduced to the use of masks in some cultural African celebrations and ceremonies.  They looked at photos of some masks and the carved wooden masks from the Africa box, then decided what type of mask they each wanted to create.  Some chose to make animals – zebras, giraffes, or lions, while others did faces using different shapes for the eyes, nose and mouth.
As it was our final Monday play date of the year, the children took their monthly trip to the library with Tammy.  They were very busy with the trains, Duplos, stories on CD, puppets, and a new Lego wall.
For art this week the children worked on Mother’s Day pictures.  They drew either family portraits or portraits of themselves with their moms, then listed things they love about their moms.  It was a fun and special activity that we are excited for all the moms to receive.
The children continued painting the boxes for the ambulance and fire engine.  The fire engine is mostly complete, and next week we hope to finish up the ambulance and police car.  We are excited to get things set up for play.
The water table was once again very popular.  There was a lot of fine motor work (strengthening finger & wrist muscle and control) going on with squeezing all the pipettes, squeeze bottles, and basters, and pouring and stirring.
We finished up our Africa unit by learning about some methods of transportation in Africa.  We watched a video about the colorful and crazy matatus, small buses/vans, used for transportation in cities and rural areas, and read the story The Matatu by, Eric Walters.
Susan shared a djembe that her daughter made when she was 14.  We felt how it was rough on the inside where it had been carved out, and smooth on the outside where it was planed and sanded down.  She told us how a goat skin was attached to the top and laced on with rope, which can be pulled out and tightened by twisting it around a stick.  Susan then taught us about talking drums, which originated in Ghana.  Drums were used to pass messages from once village to the next, which was faster than being carried by a person.   We learned that different patterns meant different things, and that the drummers had to be very accurate when drumming out and repeating the message to be sure it was properly interpreted.  Everyone chose a drum and created a line across the room.  Susan drummed out a short pattern that the second person repeated, then the third, then the fourth, and on down the line.
Friday students learned about muscles during science.  We read Your Muscular System Works.  We learned about the different types of muscles, how to keep them strong and healthy, and where they are in our bodies.  Some of us touched some real muscle (beef – in a bag).  Then we did some exercises.  They had enjoyed the “brain says” games so much, that they decided to take turns doing “muscle says” and doing different movements with their muscles.