Friday, September 29, 2022

9/30/2022

The Great Outdoors

We have enjoyed spending more time in the outdoor classroom during these beautiful fall days. On Thursday, an obstacle course provided additional fun! We noticed that children who started out tentative grew in confidence and ability to navigate the course as the day went on.

The Friday crew made adjustments to the obstacle course, making sure to stay our of the "hot lava" (the mulch).

Bailee had built "Karen's House" during the morning program. Her friends enjoyed visiting it during KW.

More Leaf Experiences

In the outdoor classroom, we continued the leaf experiences that we started earlier this week. We have seen some very fun and fanciful ginkgo transformations.
Frannie - (Referring to her drawing) She has rainbow hair. She has powers.

Children also made leaf impressions in clay slabs. After they add the glaze, they peel the leaf off. The resulting white space provides a chance to talk about the concept of negative space. In some cases, the "bumpy lines" or "skeletons" (veins) of the leaves are visible. We can't wait to see what the slabs will look like when the come out of the kiln in a couple of weeks!
Finlay - The colors always look brighter when it comes out of the kiln.
Lucas - Let's put it in the kiln so we can take it home!

Continued Cooking

It's been a big week for cooking in Kids' Workshop. On Tuesday, children made a delicious lasagna for Ines' birthday celebration. Today we baked pumpkin bread, which we will serve on at our KW Coffee next Wednesday. Cooking projects provide opportunities to measure, to follow the sequence in a recipe, to make predictions, and to see a transformation from nearly liquid batter to solid bread.
   Hugh - I love the we do cooking projects!
   Mimi - (While mixing ingredients) It smells yummy.
   Jade - (After adding pumpkin) It's turning orange.
Hugh - (After adding spices). Now, it will turn brown. (After observing the final color of the batter) Actually, it's dark orange.

Small World Revisited

Children built and extensive small world today. Initially, Cate, Finlay, and Saul built their individual areas and then worked collaboratively after the environments were complete.
   Finlay - I have a house for a dinosaur and a lion.
   Cate - I made a dinosaur house. They have a dog.
   Saul - I'm building a house for any animals.
   Cate - Mine is a tropical paradise. We're having a party.