We have been:
Playing in the "pool"
The kids are sooo excited to have their pool (a watering trough) back! Miss 2.5 is beyond ecstatic to be big enough to play in it this year! Last year she had her own little pool next to it.
Watching the "Idea Kid" come up with more ideas, like writing on a board with a magnifying glass! and the "magical tubes of invention for all."
Mr 4 found other ways to use the ladder. Flipping, what could be better?
Finding ways to get our struggling writer to write things, like a list of things he wants.
"Math Magic" fun, assignment: make something for the other student to count. We had a cat with parts, and LOTS of lines! Mister 7 got to practice grouping numbers.
Sighting new birds at our pond (see the post about it)!
Painting like the masters- I taped some paper under the table and the boys painted like Michelangelo!
And Miss 2.5 painted on the floor.
Mr. 7 really wanted to play baseball last year (after the season was over so he had to wait forever...) but when it came to actually playing he was pretty nervous. I was too when the first thing that happened was him getting hit in the stomach with the ball! By the end of the first game he decided he'd keep going. Go Giants! I have to post this because I thought it was the best thing about kid sports. Here's our dancing Third Baseman :D
Miss 2.5 and I found our "sit spot" for nature connection, and we saw tracks I'd never seen before, something big like a beaver across the river, and something small, maybe a vole swimming across the river (we could see the line behind it, but not the actual animal). I love all that we're learning in nature! Find yourself a sit spot that you can go to every day to observe. You'll be amazed at all you've been missing.
The kids have been creative- with Mister 7 making dolls out of blankets. He tired of it after a day or so, but Miss 2.5 keeps asking me to make her a baby! Loose parts are always more fun than plastic babies I guess.
Parent Fail: I'm learning that if I push this kid, he just won't do it. I took the training wheels off of his bike last year thinking he was old enough to ride without them, but it has now been a year since he would touch it because his bike is too scary. With advice from other moms I got Mr 4's little bike and we took it to our hill by the pond, and he finally rode down without falling! Hopefully Mr 4 will learn faster since he at least has a bike his size. I just feel bad that I didn't let Mr. 7 ease into it better, but I'm sure he'll get it soon.
We took a closer look at the pond, and there are TONS of pond creatures right now, which I didn't even see at all last year. Again, I'm excited to learn more about nature connection and hope the kids are loving it as much as me.
We've reorganized the little kid play area, with the mud kitchen next to the mud pit and tubes to go between.
I also figured out how to get the kiddos to use forts. They didn't touch the ones I made with branches etc. but when I told Mr. 7 it could be his office he loved it! He says he wants to be a scientist-builder when he grows up, so an office is much better than just a fort or hut. Mr 4 likes to hide in it though!
One of our nature moms is a volunteer fire fighter, so we got to tour the firehouse! Miss 2.5 now says she wants to be a fire fighter when she grows up, and when we pass the building, they say, "We saw a real fire truck!"
We tried homemade shaving cream, and the kids played with it for a bit, but it didn't really fly well. I liked it anyway...
What did you study today? We got close and personal with ants...
and flowers on a different day. We're still using the Exploring Nature With Children curriculum and there was an ant week and flower week. I finally figured out how flowers and blossoms work with seeds and fruit! It was always a mystery to me, so thank you ENWC for demystifying it.
We've started some plants inside to plant in the garden, AND we planted the kids' gardens too! They are excited to get their own food, especially this little girl who is obsessed with beets! We've had to get them from a can during the winter, so it'll be nice to grow our own.
The plants are now big enough to tell the difference between weeds and peas, along with some renegade pumpkins from last year. Transplanting and weeding time has come.
"Take a picture of me with a silly face!"
We brought home some ladybugs from the Nature Center when we were there for Earth Day, and they kids really liked holding them and putting them on the leaves.
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