“Oh, I’m as happy as a big sunflower
That nods and bends in the breezes
And my heart is as light as the wind that blows
The leaves from off the trees-es”
Wednesday, too, found us on a short walk, this time on a different block. The main attraction on this venture was a fallen apple that had been claimed by a colony of sugar ants. V pulled back the grass at the edge of the sidewalk to expose the swarming little workers, taking invisible bits of apple back to their home under the ground. V was impressed that the ants carried their food back and forth in their mouths. Returning to finish our day outdoors, B played with sidewalk chalk and V made sandcastles, inviting B to stomp them down.
Other autumn-related activities have been keeping us busy and happy: we’ve been singing about gray squirrels swishing their bushy tails, leaves and nuts waiting for the cooler days of autumn to fall down to us, and of Itsy-Bitsy Spiders. At Gathering, and at a few meals, we have enjoyed the light of a ‘corncob’ candle made of beeswax—V declared that “the candle smells like honey!” On Thursday, we had our snack picnic-style on a blanket in the kitchen, enjoying apples and popcorn and talked about warm and cozy things. What’s cozy? B says “a blanket”; V says that sheets and a soft teddy bear make her feel warm and snug. Indoors, we played with seed pod shakers from a tree, and outdoors, we used tweezers to pull sunflower seeds from a huge sunflower head.
Don’t you just love fall? Keep bringing those leaves, seedpods and other treasures…
Here are some other moments from our week, which was a girls-only week as T was out of town. We are looking forward to welcoming him back next Tuesday!
V and B played with our wooden animals and a couple of dollhouse dolls, which were a Big Sister and a Little Sister. (The dolls were assigned to me—“You be them” said V.) I asked them to make up stories about the Dog and the Beaver (V’s animals) and the Duck, Gray Bird, Squirrel and Cat (B’s) which we then acted out with our toys. Our stories centered on the animals hiding under baskets and the Sisters finding them.
Lots of art: large easel paintings, print painting on paper with corks and lids, and using watercolor pencils on soaked-watercolor paper umbrellas. We also had our usual playdough time, where V and I made “beetles” to feed the hungry bird in our cuckoo clock. Artistic and exploratory arrangements were made on trays as we played with pattern blocks during a storytime too.
Dollhouse play was a big hit. The children assembled the dollhouse with pegs, then put furniture in the various rooms. B and V had their dollies visiting the bathroom to go potty and wash their hands repeatedly. (The dollhouse toilet is one of the most continuously fascinating and attractive pieces of furniture, I’ve noticed.) At one point, B had all the dollies in the bathroom (6 of them!), showering, using the toilet and washing hands…she even added chairs into the bathroom to accommodate her crew of characters! Then several dollies played “Ring Around the Rosy” together.
V used blocks in random arrangements to create “a skating project for boys and girls”. Interestingly—and appropriately—she used only the curved and angled blocks for this project, leaving the rectangular and square blocks on the shelf.
Sometimes, the children’s questions unfold to great moments. Reading “First the Egg”, V wondered about the tadpole which becomes a frog. This led to our reading a book about frog development from “frogspawn” (egg clusters) to the mature frog. Then we brought out our frog “teacher puzzle” to examine frogs in a different way, labeling the parts of their bodies (fore and hind legs, etc.) and seeing how the smaller legs are in front while those large and powerful jumping legs are in back.
There’s been a continuing interest in lacing activities, so we had fun making up a story with our lacing tree, then stringing the leaves and animal ‘beads’ for the tree into a long strand.
Thursday we got very silly washing the paint from the big school table with bubbles, and then driving our cars through the suds to make tracks. Big fun!
The rice bin is still Ice Cream Central, and B offered us ‘chocolate ice cream’ while V made ‘pink ice cream’. We’ll be offering water play next week, so you might find wet clothes sent home in your child’s backpack!
I’m so looking forward to next week. Have a great weekend, and enjoy the gorgeous signs of autumn!
