Jack and the Beanstalk - Part 2

In the book Jack and the Beanstalk (in case you forgot like I did), Jack climbs the beanstalk to a castle in the sky.  After he meets the Giant, he takes the chicken that lays the golden eggs and the magical harp.  After we read the book, all the kids got to climb the beanstalk and retrieve their golden egg. 

 Some of them were a little hesitant to go to the top, so the Giant (me) handed the egg to them on the ladder.

 Enjoying the goodies that were found inside the golden eggs.

Since it was raining outside, we had quite a few entertaining puppet shows.  Sam the snake, Larry the Lizard and quite a few golden-egg-laying birds made their debut.

 We ate 'Giant' carrots on a specially made train.

 "Choo Choo"

 We made bunny/chicken finger puppets.  Most of them looked like crazy alien puppets because of their color choices, but that's what makes them original.

We had a great time this week.  A little crazy at times, but nothing out of the ordinary or unexpected.

Jack and the Beanstalk

 This week we read the classic book, Jack and the Beanstalk.  Actually, we watched someone else read the book.  I thought it would be a fun change, and there are so many different versions of the book.  Sydney couldn't even be in the same room when the giant was spoken of.  I forget how sensitive little girls are (I remember being that way when I was little).

  After we 'read' the book, we all got a magic bean and talked about how seeds turn into plants/vegetables.

 

We went out to the garden and looked at the different stages of growing plants- seeds that you can't see in the ground, some that are just barely germinating and some that are HUGE (sugar snap peas). 

 

The kids couldn't believe how tall the peas were.  They loved how they started growing up the next door neighbors tree that leans over into our yard. 

They all got to pick some peas and try them.  Too bad I didn't have any beans growing - oh well, they basically grow the same way, and peas are much better to eat right out the garden anyway.  

After the garden tour the kids stayed outside for playtime.  It's so fun to watch these kids play together.  They've become such good friends.  Don't get me wrong, there are a few tiffs and taddlings going on, but I tell them unless someone is hurt, they have to work it out.  Much to my surprise, they usually can work through it.  Such big kids.  Sad to say my son is the instigator to much of the tiffs - if he acts like he does at my house, at your houses, you have my full permission to spank him! 

 After we came in from snacks and playing, we found the note that the giant wrote to these cute kids.

 

 He walked on our wall, so the kids got to pick a footprint to use for their measurements.

 The kids ran around the house measuring things that were longer, shorter and the same size as the giant's footprint.  They would find something, and then run back to me and I would write it on our list. I think they had fun with this activity.

 Then we took the other pair to each footprint and made "mosaic bean art" - glued beans to the footprint.  Saying that it's mosaic makes it become "real" art, right?. :)

 The masterpieces - Lincoln, Ryder, Sydney and Paige

 More artwork - Evan, Noah, Bronwen and Calli

Of course, Mrs. Doubtfire, the weather lady made a visit to preschool again.  Ask your kids about her; they think she's hilarious and it makes them crazy that I won't admit that it's actually me. :)  I love to ruffle their feathers.  

We have a fun surprise for them on Wednesday.

3/14/2012

The Story About Ping

Wednesday the activity was playing with water. Of course the rain kept us inside so we had a little pool to work with. The Busy Bees each had a different object to put in the water. They were seeing if it floated or sunk.

The Busy Bees had a snack of green foods. Green Jello and a green drink and for those who needed more letter crackers. Noah was the only one who loved the jello, he asked for seconds. Most of the Busy Bees just played with it!!

Pictures of how each Leprechauns turned out!

The Busy Bee Leprechauns!!

3/12/2012

The Story About Ping

This week we read the book The Story About Ping. Ping lives on a boat with his Mother, Father, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles and cousins. So the Busy Bees counted their families.

Here are all the cute Busy Bees.

For our craft we started the Leprechauns. The Busy Bees painted the green and curled the hair and fixed the legs.

Here Evan and Paige playing with play do for centers. (They are on the floor because my table is covered in wet leprechauns)

Noah and Bronwen working with the pattern blocks.

Ryder and Calli counting bears and making patterns.

Lincoln and Sydney working with magnets.

3/7/2012

Mrs. McNosh Hangs Up Her Wash

Wednesday was the Busy Bees big day of learning about cutting with scissors. We learned how to hold the scissors and cut a straight line, a zig zag line and a wavy line.

We then cut out a shirt, pants and a hat to hang on our clothes line. During math time we hung some numbers on the clothes line and put them in order. We learned a little about adding.

3/5/2012

Mrs. McNosh Hangs Up Her Wash

This week we read Mrs. McNosh Hangs Up Her Wash. Mrs. McNosh hangs everything from clothes to a dog and even herself. Most of our activities centered around a clothes line. We hung up the lowercase and uppercase letters and found the matches. Then we tried some rhymes with hanging objects and each taking a turn.

And then of course we had to sort the laundry. The Girls found it extra fun because we sorted Addison's cute clothes.

I had the Busy Bees try match and fold socks.

We made some frog puppets. All the Busy Bees enjoyed coloring and gluing the

puppets together.