March 06th, 2019

Today was Wolf's first day back at school after 6 weeks of adventuring in Kenya!  We are so happy to have him back with us.  To welcome him, the Brown Room children made him several gifts.  One gift was a box of watercolors we made yesterday...

Another gift was our set of constructions that we left up overnight.  Grace introduced the "street" she made, saying, "I put patterns."
We also showed the assemblage of rocks made by Maren, the "bunny rabbits" by Lane, and the "zoo" by Grace, Maren, and Emilia.

Then Wolf brought out his gifts for us!  First brought out a paper bag with lots of multicolored bead keychains, and he handed them out one by one.  Many of the keychains were elephants and giraffes!

Next, he introduced a special snack that he brought all the way from Kenya.  "They can get stuck in your teeth", he told us.  Below you can see photos of us trying them at snack.  alexandra said, "They taste like pop tarts!"

Thank you for our lovely gifts, Wolf and family!  It's wonderful to have you back with us again!!

This evolved into something new when Fletcher realized he could build a very tall tower with two stacks of blocks.  When Ada saw this, she began building one very skinny tower with cylindrical blocks.  It fell many times, but she persevered.  ​​When it fell, Ada would smile and say, "My tower's going down!"  Eventually, Fletcher saw what she was doing and joined her.

After meeting, everybody began their plans.  One plan was to build more within the construction area like we had yesterday, with the intention of adding to Wolf's gift.  Lane began adding "sparkles" to the bunny rabbit from the day before.  Emilia helped Fletcher gather long blocks for a tower he wanted to build.  Emilia looked at the rocks and blocks available and said, "We could make a woods."

Under-Glazing

With every new skill the children learn in the studio, there is almost always the element of perseverance.   When children paint their clay with underglaze, it can be tempting to just paint a little and then be done.  Teachers have been encouraging children who began glazing last week to come back and add to the same work, maybe more than once, so their work can really feel finished.  At the end of the year, when it's time to look through portfolios with their parents, children will feel so proud of all the hard work they accomplished.

Chocolate & Coconut Juice....

Wolf made plans in the kitchen.  He said, "I got some tea.  It's hot.  I'm making some pine cakes.  And I will cut them."

"It's food time.  Here's some food.  You gotta come to a kitchen to make food.  I'm making chocolate.  I put a little bit short.  I'm putting a little bit honey."

Oliver filled a spice jar with gems and said, "It's all done.  It's full of coconut juice." He opens the lid.  "I did it with my thumb!"

He carefully arranges seven plates with blue tiles. 

​"Dinner's hot.  It's cooking.  It's all done, Melanie.  I worked so hard on it.  It's called breakfast... for everyone!"

"Can we make macaroni and cheese?  It's not done - not today, tomorrow."