Mr. Wes Teaches us about Edible Plants

Wes from Marvin's Organic Gardens came again to visit us.

This visit was about plants we can eat. He also showed us

some of the plants we will be planting for phase 2 of our

edible forest. We tasted several herbs, if we wanted to, and

also learned about what roots are and other parts of a plant.

The toddlers learn about their environment and community members

through the guests we invite to our school. The children's social world also expands

a little bit more each time a visitor comes.

Mr. Wes showing us the roots of a plant.

A toddler putting a herb leaf in his pocket.

Yumm!

Mr. Wes wrapping a vine around a preschooler's head.

 Are you sleeping while standing up?

Wow! Look at all of those plants!

Making Bird Nests and Bird Feeders

Our bird lesson has been a fun one! Below are a couple of the activities

we have done. The first two pictures are of the toddlers making bird feeders.

We used soy  nut butter, bird seed, pine cones that we found under our

evergreen trees, and string. The toddler liked to taste the "peanut butter" as

they made their yummy treats for the birds.

The toddlers got loads of sensory experience from this activity, got to use

natural materials that stimulates the brain, and practiced following directions.

The following pictures show how we gathered materials from outside

to make our bird nests. This was a really fun activity that I think the

children should do at home too! The toddlers collected mud by our tires,

grass, leaves, and I added string and cotton. We left the nests outside to see

if the birds would use our nests and they did! The sparrows came to

collect all of the cotton some string and grass for their own nest!

The toddlers worked together (socialization) when they gathered the materials, and

they also were using their gross and fine motor skills as they constructed

their bird nest.

March Pictures

The toddlers are wearing some of our dress up shoes during

our Hats and Shoes lesson. Check out their feet.

Spring has certainly arrived! Our garden outside of the classroom door

has tulips blooming. We added a humming bird feeder, but when we added

the humming bird food it leaked out! For now the feeder is a pretty decoration.

Say Cheese! Some of the girls from our class pose for a picture

under our crab apple tree. What pretty blooms!

The toddlers paint with shoes! This was a great activity. We are starting to do

more of our daily and art activities outside now that the weather is warmer and dryer.

We took several of our large trucks outside to our parking lot area one morning.

The boys had truck races! The toddler with the brown jacket organized the game.

Great socialization!

Another outdoor activity. We simply put out paper and pencils for the toddlers.

They doodled, made pictures, drew lines. This simple activity worked on their early

writing skills: lines, circles, fine motor skills, and communication.

We always interact with nature no matter what our lesson is!

The kids noticed our log by our playhouse was decomposing and it easily broke apart.

We saw several worms, a spider, and tiny bugs that I have never seen before.

The toddlers planted grass with minimal help from me. We watched our grass

grow in our window sill for about a week. The grass grew so fast, and

felt so soft and smooth.