This week, one of the things we have been enjoying as a class is celebrating the bright colors all around us at this time of year. We enjoyed preserving fall leaves and using them to decorate our classroom, going on color hunts in the garden to see how many colors we could find, and graphing our favorite colors as a class.
Because our class recently enjoyed making applesauce so much, we also enjoyed some more apple baking with the class this week! First, we repeated the steps from our applesauce making (peeling, slicing and coring the apples, adding cinnamon, honey and mixing well). But this time, instead of cooking the apples on the stove, we used our apple mixture to fill our mini pies. We cut small circles of dough using a bowl, and the children practiced filling it with a scoop of apple filling, folding and crimping it together with a fork. The class had so much fun building on their culinary skills from last time and enjoying another special fall treat of their own making.
This week, we also extended on a book that this group has gotten to enjoy both in the classroom, and at library story time. Sophie's Squash is a story about a girl who loves a butternut squash so much she treats it like it is her little baby. Despite her parents' warnings, she refuses to believe that it won't last forever. Finally when a farmer advises her that a squash needs "dirt, sunshine, and lots of love" she tucks it in the ground in a blanket of dirt, only to be surprised when it is soon lost under the winter snow. The following Spring, she is elated to find a whole squash plant that appears in its place! Inspired by the story, we planted our own squash in the garden, with a "Sophie's Squash" sign that the children made to mark its place. We can't wait to check on it again in the spring to see if a plant comes up!
At this week's library story time, we learned about the traditions associated with the Jewish Sukkot holiday, and the class practiced designing their own sukkah shelters with sunflower stalks, corn stalks, and various treasures from nature's bounty. We've been extending on this at school by creating more sunflower stalk shelters and creating sukkah cakes in our mud kitchen!
Perhaps best of all, this group enjoyed lots of open- ended playtime outside this week. They have been creating games of their own invention, building friendships, and connecting with nature each day. This class is already getting excited for Halloween, as evidenced by their enthusiastic "ghost hunt" games each day on the playground! We are excited to build on this enthusiasm over the next couple of weeks by bringing some more Halloween fun into the classroom! Stay tuned! ;)
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