Oh, the many things we do.....

     The other day, the children and I took a nature walk outside. It is so nice to go outside and get some fresh air everyday. Not knowing what we might find, we zipped up our coats, grabbed our clipboards, and headed outside. Sure enough, one of the first things we found was fresh celery in our garden! The children noticed that many of the other plants and flowers were crumpled over and dead, but the celery looked so green and crisp. Kaiden, Sophia and a few other students used a shovel to help harvest the celery. We were going to eat the celery for a snack that day, but Aurora had a better idea! Why not put peanut butter and raisins on the celery to make "ants on a log?" What a fantastic and healthy idea! The next day, the children experienced what it means to work as a team to get a task accomplished. The class and I traveled to the kitchen and every child had a job. Jobs included cutting the celery, washing and drying, spreading the peanut butter, and putting the raisins on the celery. It was fun to see the children form an assembly line and work together as a team. They were all very proud of the job they had, and they completed it wonderfully! The ending product tasted so yummy. Nina and CJ even tried the ants on a log even though they thought they didn't like celery... but they loved it! Children are more likely to eat vegetables that they grow and harvest themselves, so this is a great time to start thinking of spring gardening in your own home!

 

Above (top:) Sophia harvests the fresh, crisp celery.

Above (left:) Luke, Avery, and Sophia work hard at spreading the peanut butter and placing the raisins on the celery.

Above (right:) Riley and Gabriel take turns cutting the edges off the celery.

 

Something else that I would like to tell you about is our collaborative melted crayon art project.  Here is how the project developed: It was one sunny afternoon and the students needed plenty of table space to complete a project. They moved their pencil and crayon containers on the windowsill to give themselves more room. Soon after, the crayons were melting due to the sun! What could also melt crayons? This lead into a discussion about other sources of heat and what makes things hot. The children believe that if you put crayons in an oven, they will melt. Charles believes that if we would place crayons in a desert, they would melt because "it is hot in the desert." We talked about another source of heat... the hair dryer! For art that week, the children planned and designed a night and day portrait out of peeled crayons. This fit perfectly into the curriculum, for the children have been investigating day and night. The beautiful night portrait includes stars, the black sky, and a moon. The day portrait is of a sun shining down on a blue, wavy ocean.  When the hair dryer was turned on, the children loved watching the crayon melt throughout the masterpiece. We talked about how the crayon started off as a solid, turned into a liquid due to the heat, and then turned back into a solid. The portraits are displayed in the hallway, so make sure to stop by and take a look at the works of art!

Above (Left:) Mackenzie, Lucia, Sam, and Kaiden design the "day" portrait.
Above (Right:) The children are amazed as they watch their art come to life!


 Here is a link teaching you how to complete a melted crayon art portrait with your child. The ending product is amazing and is something you will have forever!

PS- Here is a tip: Do you have a lot of crayons laying around your house? Do you have broken crayons that your child never uses? Reuse those crayons in this project instead of buying a new pack!

http://www.kiwicrate.com/projects/Melted-Crayon-Art/345