Going Camping

When I noticed that the children were getting a bit tired of playing at the vet's office.  I knew it was time for a change.  After a long discussion and many suggestions, we voted on a few ideas. 

It's easy to tell which one got the most votes.

 The children knew a lot about camping.  We added a tent to the center and they were ready to go. 

Lily and Grace made marshmallows out of cotton balls so that they would have something to roast on the campfire.

Casey helped build the fire with sticks and crumpled up red paper.

Tucker and Brayden made a pond.

Friends at Art Center made fish for the pond. While Lily and Grace figured out how to make fishing poles.

Max and friends decided to make a guitar to sing songs around the campfire.

The children love camping! 

Our Chicks are Hatching!

A tiny chirping sound greeted us as we walked into the classroom this morning.  Sure enough, several of our eggs had cracks in them.  Then, during calendar time, our first chick hatched!  The children were so excited. 

He was soon followed by two more chicks.

The chicks are still wet and VERY tired.  It will take about 24 hours for them to dry out and rest.

Watch one of our chicks hatch!

We now have 3 more eggs that have begun to crack!  Check back for pictures as they hatch.

Hatching Day is Here!

According to the calendar that the children made, Sunday, April 10 should be our big day.  Sure enough, when I arrived to check on the eggs. I could hear tiny chirps coming from the incubator! 

This is the calendar.  Each day the helper crosses off another day. 

After checking all of the eggs, I noticed that two have cracks in them!  The cracks are small but I can see the eggs rock and hear the chicks working to get out!

The egg at the top and the one on the bottom both have small cracks!



Wood Working Center

The wood working center is the newest center in our classroom.  Safety is very important at this center and is not taken lightly.  The children must pass a safety test before they are allowed to go to this center.

Logan is demonstrating how to put a drill bit in the drill.

He is also demonstrating how to hold the wood when using the saw.

Devin and Jordan are using the hammer.

Noah is using the drill.

This center is very popular!

We're very Egg-cited about Science Center

Monday afternoon, we got a clutch of chicken eggs for our incubator!  Now we are watching and waiting.  In about 21 days, we hope to have baby chicks.

Each day we turn the eggs over just like a mother hen would.  Every egg is labeled with an X on one side and an O on the other.  This helps us know which side to turn the eggs to.  

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!

The more that you read, the more things you will know.

The more that you learn, the more places you'll go!

 - Dr. Seuss

In honor of Dr. Seuss' birthday this week, we read his books each day during Shared Reading!  Here are a couple of the books that we read!

After reading this book, we enjoyed eating green eggs and ham for lunch.  This is what our friends think about green eggs and ham! 

We also read

but the real fun began when we read...

After we read this book, we made real Oobleck!  

We also made a few predictions based on our observations and experiences.

Follow the link to see who was right!
Walking on Oobleck

Author Michael Shoulders visits AEEC!

We had a wonderful visit with children's author Michael Shoulders today!  He was very funny and told us all about himself and his family.  He also did a magic trick for us to start us off!  He showed us where he writes his books and told us about the the things he does when he is working on a book.  We even got to see how the pages are put together when the book has been finished!  Who knew meeting an author could be so cool?

This is what a book looks like before the pages are cut apart!

Everyone had a great time!

We learned that he does research before he writes a new book.

Casey was our light man for the show.  Each time Mr. Shoulders said, "Light Man", Casey had to run across the room and turn the lights on or off!

Light Man did such a great job, he to wear the Indian Chief headdress!

 We finished with a rap song about one of his books!