To the Woods!

Free choice time was full of activity this morning. Friends continued to explore the tripod (we will soon be attaching the video camera to it, and creating tiny videographers).

Friends also helped add to our stick book - which is growing every day.

There was some baking and serving happening in the dramatic play area.

And there was a basket-headed monster lose in the block area.

After our Moment of Silence, we discussed our plan for the rest of the day. Friends were excited about our trip, and we tried to remember the fun things we'd done there on our last visit.

Before we left, we had another "Stick Talk Show," with Hoppity the Frog. This time, we played a game called: IS THIS A STICK???. In this game, Hoppity reached in a bag and pulled out something, then asked the Little Frogs the question, "Is this a stick?" (Only loudly, and usually with a stick-ish object in his mouth, so he was hard to understand). Then each friend had to answer the question, for three different objects. In this way, friends will start to think of the qualities that make something a stick (as opposed to trying to answer the impossible questions of Why or Why not?)

After a brief dance party, we headed out.

We discovered all kinds of amazing things today. A forest made out of sticks.

We couldn't decide what this was.

We headed down the big hill and sat on the stage for our morning snack.

Then we did some jumping off...

and climbing up.

We visited the crookedy house...

...and then headed over the bridge into the woods.

There were all kinds off things made out of sticks.

And all kinds and sizes of sticks just lying about, waiting to be climbed upon.

This piece was particularly fascinating,

and you could walk through it!

But the best, most incredible part of all was when we...

saw the deer!!! There were three of them.

They let us get pretty close - even though we were excitedly noisy in our approach.

We followed them for awhile before they headed off, then we headed back. 

Now, as I write this, the Little Frogs are taking a well earned nap - there's even some snoring going on!

An important note: This is our second day of having the "New Danielle" as a teacher in our room, and this transition has gone extremely well. It helped that this Danielle knew nearly all of the children already, as a sub and the extended day coordinator. She is also extremely competent, warm and funny and an excellent fit with the Little Frogs. If you haven't already done so, I encourage you to take some time to talk with her, and you'll see why the Little Frogs already have such wonderful relationships with her. We also see our other Danielle many times a day, and friends enjoy rushing over to give her hugs. And, as we like to say, you can never have enough Danielles.

Hey, Hay!

This morning there were firefighters in our room again, and they have a particularly jaunty way of wearing their fire hats!

Friends were also hard at work beading (another fun fine motor activity).

Nellie and Princess Froggy were hungry, and the Little Frogs are always eager to take care of them.

There was also a new gadget in the room, with lots of moving parts.

Before we knew it, it was time for Movement with Missy. All of the Frogs were enthusiastic participants today.

Missy brought out one of our favorites - balloons. We practiced throwing, catching and balancing them. We also hit them and balanced them on noodles.

Back in the room, we took a little more time with our morning activities, then sat down for snack. Today, we had Morning Meeting after snack, and the Frogs had another amazing Moment of Silence. We read, The Beast in the Bathtub, a story about a boy who finds a beast in his bathtub and ends up taking a bath and spending he evening with him.

Then we headed outside to enjoy another beautiful autumn day.

Friends found the straw bale and used it to climb on and jump off.

Then, we took the bale apart and the real fun began. Straw was flying everywhere, and friends were leaping in the soft pile.

some friends got buried in  straw...

...and then there were straw angels!

Back inside, we read, Chimps Don't Wear Glasses, and talked a bit about our imaginations and how we can use it. Then, it was already time to sing our goodbye song to our half-day friend and join together for lunch. After (because one friend had tortillinis for lunch), we learned the Tortellinni Song, and made plans for tomorrow.*

*Tomorrow is suppose to be a particularly beautiful day (a perfect day to go and vote...hint, hint), so we will be having Morning Meeting a little early and then heading over to Alvelthorpe Park for a giant adventure. Please try and have Frogs here by 8:45, and dressed for a hike in the woods.