Children were busy today making their way between work in the indoor and outdoor classroom. While inside, friends experimented with a new modeling clay that Jen recently discovered. It's an "air dry" formula - which is a little less labor intensive than kiln-firing! We thought it might be a nice medium to use for duck eggs; some friends used it for this and others built firetrucks, mario men and towers. Another exciting provocation happening this afternoon was a stop-motion movie creation based off of some of the duck stories we've been writing together. All children will get a chance to try this! Today, Ellee, Rose and Willa pulled together to create an animation based off of a duck that uses her girl power to "always save the day". Friends discussed their storyline and then set to work collecting materials for their backdrop and taking pictures for the animation. Ellee: It's going to start with the sun. Rose: I was thinking the ducks were swimming. Ellee: The droplet hits Earth and it forms into a duck egg. The only duck inside is the girl power duck, and she always saves the day. Problems to solve: How do we create a problem for the girl power duck? / How do we show that she save the day? It's decided that she rescues a fish from a whale! ... more to come on this animation later this week! Outside, friends held a "bike wash" and also participated in hand sewing explorations.
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Another wonderful Thursday in the books! Tasha and Suzanne took small groups out to work on a "Top Secret Project" throughout the afternoon. As this was happening, friends enjoyed making salsa for tonight's event, finishing mother's day gift-wrapping, and eventually playing in the outdoor classroom. Spicy Salsa!It packs some heat, but boy is it delicious! Hopefully you can sample some alongside your empanada tonight! Children worked hard snipping cilantro, squeezing limes, draining the tomatoes, and adding the chopped onion and jalapeños to the blender. As always, great fun was had in the outdoor classroom. Carl even underwent massive surgery for a broken leg with a team of very experienced Doctors! Have a lovely long weekend - look out for some special (and fragile) Mother's Day gifts in your child's cubby bag this afternoon!
Also like yesterday, we had a limited inside time today. Most of this time was devoted to putting finishing touches on some of our Mother's Day surprises and wrapping them. There's still a few more details to take care of before we send the goodies home tomorrow!
KW friends had a blast taking in the beautiful weather in the outdoor classroom this afternoon. Not only was it a perfect 78 degrees and sunny, but we have brand new sand in the sand area! Children immediately took to making quiches (some poisonous for the teachers), digging, and building bridge and sewer systems. Other materials experiences were on offer outside - watercolor painting and making a lace-impressioned clay bowl for one of our board members who's leaving. During the brief period of time spent inside, children cut out various words and letters as contributions for collage at the New Parent Reception on Thursday evening. We're looking forward to more days like these where we can enjoy the outdoor classroom this week!
During last Friday's trip to Volta Park, Kate and Caroline noticed that the children were still talking about the ducks. Clearly, we are not quite finished with our trips to the canal. As we crossed the canal bridge today, Max showed Hugh the important landmarks for our trip saying, "This is the canal, and that's the Potomac." As always, we stopped to run and climb on the brick columns that are just across the canal. While looking for the ducks, we found dandelions (for making wishes) and buttercups. We found our seven ducklings. Actually Grace spotted them resting in the grasses across the canal. They were difficult to see as their coloring blended in perfectly with their surroundings. We were surprised how much the ducklings had grown in the two weeks since we had last seen them. Perhaps even more surprising, they were on the their own, with no mother duck nearby. It was great to see them, but both Grace and Prater expressed sadness that the ducklings were not so little anymore. We tossed our duck treats along the canal, but these cautious ducks waited until we had walked away to come across to eat. The canal itself was different today. We noticed more plants growing in the water. The water itself even looked different.... with stripes variations in the color that Max referred to as "scrapes." Enjoy these images of life along the canal. Just before dismissal, we spent some time talking about the Kentucky Derby and Cinco de Mayo. Have a great weekend, whatever you are celebrating!KW friends were busy today - playing games of family in the outdoor classroom and putting finishing touches on a few ongoing projects involving clay, paper beading and duck stories. We spent a large portion of our day (apart from lunch) in the outdoor classroom. Can you believe these 90 degree temperatures?! Luckily, we had our mango pineapple lime popsicles to keep us cool! Teachers were happy to get a surprise delivery as well!
We may have skipped spring and gone straight into summer, but KW is prepared! Today we made popsicles that we can have for an afternoon snack tomorrow. Everyone got in on the action: measuring, mixing, scooping, and pouring. Our flavor choice was mango pineapple lime! The children spent time making messages, and working with clay. When the weather is this nice, we are able to do a lot of these activities outside. Several of our activities these days are related to Mother's Day. We talked with each other about this special occasion: Hadley - Mother's Day is for telling your mother you love them. Ellee - (Mother's Day is) to celebrate the day of our mom. Jay - Because they give birth to us. Max - Because she takes care of us and makes sure we don't get lost. Tegan - Because she loves me. Cassius - Because they get anything they want on Mother's Day. Sometimes my mom gets flowers. Willa - I give her flowers, mostly. Ellee - I was thinking of going to the jewelry store. Kids' Workshop made the most of this beautiful May day by spending most of our time in the outdoor classroom. Friends continued working on a few ongoing Mother's Day projects and were excited to finally use water in the sand area! Today they grew plants, built canals and assembled fairy cakes. Quacky Birthday, Marley!After lunch, we surprised Marley with a KW birthday present - a set of duck napkin rings and monogrammed napkins! Ducky her! Friends also enjoyed reading books and creating cards and collages at the message center.
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April 2024
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