We were so grateful this week for the gorgeous sunny days and super warm temperatures, which allowed us to get LOTS of much needed time outside!  There was a lot of wrestling, chasing, scooping up and playing with water, sled rides, and running, running, running.  The spring like weather and week before vacation energy made for a week of active outside play.
Wrestling and “rough play” is a favorite activity of many Sunnybrook students, and research has shown how very valuable this type of engagement is for young children – both with peers and the adults in their lives.   There are many articles available citing the research, so feel free to google.  This one and this one give a good overview of the benefits and how we as teachers regulate and moderate this type of play. That said, if you do have concerns about rough and tumble play and would prefer that your child not engage, please let us know!
Friday students had some fun times outside the fence, as well . . .
For Monday art weaving was introduced.  The children were each given a paper with strips cut, which they wove colored paper through to create colorful designs.  A yarn weaving and potholder weaving activity were also made available for the week, and the children took turns threading the colorful pieces over and under, over and under.
At the art table the children used watercolor paints to paint on coffee filters, which we will turn into butterflies by wrapping pipe-cleaner bodies around them.  They also used tempera paint to pain on one side of a paper, then folded it over to print onto the other side, making a symmetrical pattern.  Once dry, these were cut into butterfly shapes and added to our rainforest.
The rain forest was busy with fishermen, both paddling down the river in their dugout canoes and fishing from the banks.  There were some rather large fish captured and hauled in for a tasty meal.
We watched the beginning of several videos so that we could get a real life look at the Amazon rain-forest.  We watched butterflies flying around the Amazon, a speed boat heading down river, an Amazon jungle tour in a canoe with a native guide, a quick look at some Amazon villages, and an introduction to the Amazon Rain-forest.
We were thrilled to have a special visitor, Liz, join us on Wednesday morning to talk about her time living in South America.  She told us about living in Chile and Brazil, and showed use many pictures of her time there.  We saw the Atacama Desert, Machu Pichu, families dressed in bright clothing, city views, glaciers, guanaco (an animal similar to a lama or alpaca), and many other wonderful photos.  She also shared her Alpaca made with Alpaca hair, which everyone took turns petting.  It was so soft!  Thank you so much to Liz for coming all the way up from southern New Hampshire to share her stories and photos with us!
Thursday was our final Spanish lesson for session II with Zeanny.  We sang the songs she has been teaching, listened to the Spanish version of the story Mortimer, by Robert Munsch, then we learned to make empanadas.  Everyone was given a bowl, several scoops of masa, and some water.  We stirred and mixed then formed the dough into balls, then flattened them into circles.  Zeanny scooped beans and sprinkled shredded cheese, then folded them over to make half circles, pinching the edges together.  While Zeanny cooked them up, we ate snack and listened to stories, then we tried our creations.  Some children chose to bring theirs home to share with their families.  They sure were yummy!
We celebrated a special birthday on Tuesday.  Our newest four-year-old was super excited for her turn to hold the globe and orbit the candle sun while we counted for her.  After the “Happy Birthday” song, she blew her candle out in one try, then we all enjoyed pink frosted cupcakes with sprinkles.  Happy birthday to our most recent four-year-old!
Friday science continued our study of animal classes.  We examined some frogs, toads, newts, and salamanders, all member of the amphibian class.  We learned that they have soft, moist skin, typically live in wet areas, go through metamorphosis, hatch from eggs that are jellylike and clear with little black spots, and breath through their skin.  The children did the animal classification sort (they are really getting to know their classes!) then drew pictures of the metamorphosis of a frog.