Melting snow and ice created an enormous puddle under the crab apple tree, which quickly became the main attraction.  Sleds were tested for floatation.  Shovels were used for scooping up muddy water.  Sleds and buckets were filled, transported, and dumped.  We created a channel from the giant puddle to the back corner for drainage, and the children floated sticks and pushed the slush and water down to the end. There were a lot of very wet children, but it was great fun!
On Monday for art we shook up and sprayed out cans of shaving cream into bins, poured in some glue, and added some bright colors to create puff paint.  Then the artists had fun selecting colors and smooshing them all over the paper to create their puff art.  They had so much fun, that the puff lost a bit of its puffiness, but it was a fun process.At the art table Susan introduced wax resist and water color porthole paintings.  The children thought about what they might see out the porthole of a submarine, then planned what they would draw.  They used crayons or pastels to draw their renditions of a porthole ocean view, then painted over them with watercolors.  When dried, they glued on the porthole frame, cut around the outside, and we stuck them up on the wall to enjoy.On Tuesday Tammy introduced the children to some yoga poses.  They moved their bodies like different animals and practiced breathing exercises.

The children continued to work on the yellow submarine and the ocean environment.  They drew ocean animals on a second shower curtain for our ocean water.  We finally assembled the submarine and it was well used for diving down into the ocean and exploring the underwater environment.Manta rays, another type of fish, were introduced this week.  We read about Rosie the Ray, who knows instinctively how to survive upon birth, as ray parents are not there to care for their young.  Rosie ray knew to hide down in the sand to escape predators, how to hunt for food, and how to sting with her barbed stinger if needed.The Armstrong family brought an Easter Book and an Easter activity to share. We read Jan Brett’s story The Easter Egg and colored fun Easter crowns with crayons and markers.We continued doing some perspective taking activities.  We read the story, Clark the Shark, about a shark who is sometimes just too loud, too rough, and too impulsive, and how he comes up with a mantra to help himself stay cool at school.  The children took turns using the puppets to act out the story and think about how Clark, Mrs. Inkydink the teacher, and Clark’s friends would be feeling.  Henrietta and Wolfgang also chatted with us about playing games on the playground and how they might be feeling when one of them decides to play a new game.  The children took turns being Henrietta and Wolfgang and acting out how to respond.We pulled out the parachute and played some parachute games, including When the Wavy Waters Roll (a version of When the Cold Wind Blows), Great White Shark, and a trading places game.  Each child was given a number, and when their number was called, they ran under the parachute and traded places with the child that had the other number that was called.The water cycle was introduced during science on Friday. We read several books about water and the water cycle, and we learned about precipitation, evaporation, and condensation.  We set out a glass of ice water and checked on it to see if water vapor in the air condensed when it touched the cold glass.  We also set out a pitcher of water and marked the water line.  The children predicted that the water would be lower on Monday as some of it would evaporate over the weekend.