Children thought about life along the canal with different materials today.  Some children glazed their clay ducks and ducklings.  Others used watercolors on rice paper to represent the canal or the forsythia.  Some children did both!  You can find collections of our most recent work above the Tucker Room cubbies.

It was another beautiful day outside and the KW children took advantage of the weather.   There was a lot of balancing along the edge of the sandbox.  As Carl explained, "It's all about concentration."   Many children were swinging from the bar and inventing tricks for themselves.... Lila can do a flip around the bar!  Vivienne cooked up a variety of potions, all of which were intended to poison the teachers,   Luckily,  Kate and Jill survived another day!

On a trip to the Canal last Friday, we noticed beautiful forsythia growing. Friends were invited to draw the landscape this afternoon. While drawing, they considered the different shades of color in the canal and the forsythia's reflection in the water.
Rose: Why are you using blue? It's kind of greenish (canal water).
Ellee: Yeah, because it's so dirty and there's so much dirt in the bottom. 
Rose: I'm putting a little yellow because that's the reflection of the flowers. 
Willa: After this I want to make the sky. Suns are yellow.
Rose: They're kind of orange when they're setting. My sun is setting. 
Ellee: I'm going to add ducks when I'm done.

It was interesting to note the different perspectives taken in their interpretations. Some drew the image from head on and others drew a peripheral view. 
Watercolor painting with tape compositions was on offer as well. Children worked with Jill to create their design in tape, then added liquid water color and peeled the tape away to discover the design made by the negative space. 

 We were able to spend both the beginning and latter portion of our KW day in the outdoor classroom. The boys dug a large hole (at first to find the Great Devour), but it later turned into a pit for "sky diving jumps". Vivienne mastered "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" on the keyboard percussion instrument as well! 

Our Friday friends made another trip to the canal today.   Hadley and Max had not yet thrown their wishing rocks into the canal, so today they made their wishes.  After he threw his rock,  Max said, "I think my wish will come true tonight."   There was general consensus among the group that wishes generally do come true at night.  We also brought some leftovers snacks to feed the ducks.  The ducks gathered around as we tossed the treats.   Hadley observed that the ducks looked the same as the ducks that she saw in Canada.   Noticing the white band around the male ducks' necks, Hadley commented, "The mama ducks don't have that.  Maybe it is so the daddy can wear a bow tie.   I like the colors of the mama duck better than the colors of the daddy duck.  That is not to say that I don't like the daddy duck colors, I just prefer the mama duck colors."  Even though today didn't exactly feel like spring, we admired the forsythia blooming along the canal.  Enjoy the images and have a fantastic weekend!

We were so happy to be back in the KW swing of things today! We started our day in the outdoor classroom. Friends partook in a larger group dramatic play involving unicorns. Jay, Cassius, Prater, Carl and Mac built a fortress with fire and a dungeon. Friends enjoyed "the chase" to capture unicorns into their lair and also the plan of escape. Other friends tested their abilities on the climbing wall, seeing how high they could reach. Soccer and basketball were also popular in the alley. 

What a beautiful day! We enjoyed the warm temperatures by staying outside a little longer than usual today. Friends played mermaid, several tag games, family, and continued work on our clay canal. 

Once we made it inside and finished lunch, the boys headed straight to the "hot glue construction table". They worked alongside each other to create different parts of what would be a train station. Honing in on those strong collaboration skills, they eventually found a way to combine their separate parts into one whole train station. (Who will be able to take it home is still up for debate!) Lucy, Prater and Ellee joined as well to create instruments and robots.

Friends also expressed great enthusiasm for creating more clay ducks...and boy can they create those quickly these days! Within the hour we had 5 new ducks to add to our bigger-than-ever collection! Make sure to look for some finished versions on top of the Tucker Room cubbies!

The fun continued with valentine-inspired collages and messages.  Jay and Carl worked on the second installment of the clay canal.  As Jay diligently built the canal wall, he suggested that we could eventually add a clay bridge over the canal.  We will follow up on this excellent idea!   Bridges have been a recurrent theme in our outdoor play and work as well.  While the construction crew built, other children were busy concocting poison potions for the teachers!  Have a wonderful Valentine's Day and enjoy these images!

We had a busy afternoon in Kids' Workshop. With the buzz and excitement of Valentine's Day in the air, children had the option of creating collages or Valentine's messages. 

Clay and natural materials were also a focus this afternoon. We're sure you've seen the clay canal creation for our ducks living on top of the Tucker Room cubbies. For the next week, we'll be adding on to this creation, making it longer and big enough to house our whole collection of ducks! Today, Jay studied the picture of the canal very closely. He began building a wall out of clay and stones to resemble the stone wall along the canal. 

The construction area opened later in the afternoon. Friends enjoyed enacting a dramatic play script in the transformer airplane they built this morning. 
Carl: Guys, who's going to get the pets? We need pets on to get them home.
Jay (to Max): What about I'm the teenager, Max and you're the Dad? (Both passengers on the airplane)
Max: This is my coffee. 
Jay: I'm drinking coke because I'm a teenager. 
Carl: Fasten your seatbelt!
Mac: We're the pilots.
Max: How much is our flight to San Francisco?
Jay: 1 hour. 
Carl: These make the plane transform. If it wants to land in water it turns into a boat.
Jay: It has pontoons. Things that make planes float in the water.

The KW children had a special treat this afternoon!  We were invited to a folk music performance that was put on in Blake Hall for the seniors.  Several Tucker children also attended with their families or caregivers. The musician played a wide variety of instruments and encouraged the audience to sing along with him.  There was a song about a groundhog, a blues song about about being a mole in the ground, and a ragtime song about vegetables, among others.  

After the performance, children had time to reflect.  As the talked, the children made connections to instruments they have at home, things they know about music, and their own musical aspirations.
   Max - My favorite was the guitar.
   Hadley - My favorite instrument that he played was.... let me think.... the washboard.  I know what Melanie's favorite song was.... that vegetable song.
    Ellee - And that was Melanie's favorite instrument.
   Grace - My favorite part was "I wish I had ants in my pants."  (That was part of a song that he sang with our group!)  I've been dreaming about going on a big stage when I'm older.
    Hadley - I am going on a big stage because I have a violin and a harmonica.
    Lucy - I have a harmonica and a guitar and a piano.

We had a little more time to spend together, so children chose their favorite things to pass the time.  Their were stories read by teachers and children, beautiful valentine-inspired messages, and mandalas.   Enjoy these images and have a fantastic weekend!
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Wire and beading materials were also on offer this afternoon. Children loved using the letter beads to spell their names as well as some mommy's names too! 

Fun playing Guess Who and digging holes and making cakes in the sand area was had as well!