We are well into autumn. The leaves are gone and the cold has arrived! The children were still anxious to get outside and run around with their friends, dig in the sandbox, and play pretend. On Friday the cold weather finally coincided with some precipitation, and the excitement of the first small coating of snow had the children requesting early outside time. They made snow angels and snow balls and attempted miniature snowmen until all the snow was used up. It was great fun while it lasted!
We were so thrilled to have Kelly Frink, our new teacher, join us this week. She instantly and seamlessly integrated into the classroom, making all of the children feel special and welcome. She is such a wonderful addition to Sunnybrook!
For Monday art the children were introduced to clay pot making after a discussion of Native Americans and their use of natural materials to create clothes, tools, houses, weapons, and other necessities. They learned how to make pinch pots and coiled pots. The clay remained at the art table throughout the week, and various items were molded and constructed, including pots, snowmen, and forests of trees.
We continued to read Stone Soup stories and discussed the characters in the different versions. We had a brief introduction to Native Americans and the tradition of Thanksgiving, a feast with family and friends, just like Stone Soup at Sunnybrook.
Friday students had a busy morning of work and were so anxious to get outside to enjoy the snow that they requested we skip circle. They had so much fun enjoying the little bit of white stuff covering the ground.
For afternoon science we learned about density. We all crowded together in a tight group, then spread out a little to try to understand what density means. Then we proceeded to the science table where we took turns pouring different liquids into a cylinder to create a density column. We weighed each liquid before pouring it in, and noticed that the more dense liquids were, the heavier they were. We started with honey, then karo syrup, dish soap, water, vegetable oil, and finally rubbing alcohol.
