This week in the classroom

It has been a very busy week for all! With the pumpkin patches and Diwali our little preschool has been buzzing. 

This week, the 3's and 4's in the Unicorn room came into a house corner that did not look like a house corner anymore. With straw, pumpkins, tombstones, spiders and fabric for texture the children have been creating their own "Spooky" environments.

On Monday, they also came into see that the corn they had added to water the Friday before had begun to sprout!  By Friday this week the sprouts are turning green and some are wondering what might happen next! Questions pondered were:   How did this happen?  What do they think the sprouts were called?  Should one touch them?  When questioned, "What helps a plant grow?"  the students concluded that it was due to all the sun we had over the weekend.  Also, that it should be left alone because they might break, and  it takes water, light and Love to make a plant grow.  We are definitely giving the corn lots of these 3 things to help our sprouts out.

Pumpkin Dissection took place on Friday. Children were able to touch and feel the seeds, as well as pulp. Some words that were used by the 3's were; "Squishy", and "slimy," to describe the guts. The 4's started to separate the seeds from the pulp so that next week they can roast the seeds and taste in class. A few spent most of class sorting through the slippery pulp with their fingers, pulling out the seeds and placing them in another bowl.  A lot of work and fine motor skills were used to fill our bowl with just seeds.

The classroom was also up to their elbows in bubbles while washing pumpkins! The great thing about this activity is that not only does it teach life skills, but it also gets the children involved in the process. It shows them what goes into life requires concentration and caring for the environment.