Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Art Gallery

We had the amazing opportunity to visit the William's Fine Art Gallery today.  The kids got to see some amazing paintings and sculptures by real artists.  They were so great to let us come and to give our kids a great art experience.
They first took a walk around the gallery to look at all the art then they each got the chance to make their own work of art.  They painted with acryllic paints on canvas using the primary colors.  They got to paint like a real artist using one color as a base, then adding a little of the second color, and finally signing their name with the third color.  The kids all loved painting and their art looked so good when it was framed! 
They even got blue 1st place ribbons for their works or art!

Finally the kids got to walk around and find their favorite painting and get their picture taken with it.  It was really interesting to see which paintings each kid picked and why it was their favorite.

T's favorite painting.  A landscape with mountains.
 EW's favorite. An oil painting of a train yard.
 G's favorite painting of a typewriter.
 EM's favorite painting. A town with traintracks.
 P, J, and K all had the same favorite painting!  A farmer plowing a field with horses.

Monday, March 28, 2011

Spring/Seasons

W gave a great lesson last Tuesday on the Seasons and Spring. 

Gathering Activity- The gathering activity was scissor practice.  Each kid got to trace their closed hand then cut it out with scissors (3 times to make 3 petals).  They then glued those on a blue paper with the stem and leaves they got to cut out.  It was really cute and those little boys concentrate so hard trying to cut on the lines!  They put their finished flowers in their binders.

Circle Time- She then had the kids do the pledge and weather wheel.  They took turns holding pictures of the four different seasons and learned the number 4.  They learned about the letter Q and talked about how Winter changes "Quickly" into Spring.  They also learned about the diamond shape and how a kite can be in the shape of a diamond.

Color Experiment- The kids then gathered in the kitchen while W did a color experiment with them.  Each boy chose a favorite color and they turned water that color in a baby food jar.  W then told them how if you make the color a lighter version it is called pastel.  She then added liquid dish soap to each color and the boys watched the bright colors change to a pastel color.  They then colored two eggs- one with pastel colors and the other with bright colors. 
Spring Planting- W then showed the boys some flowers that she needed to plant outside.  She cut off the stems then took all the boys outside and each one got a turn to pick a bulb, dig a hole in the dirt, and plant the bulb.  After each boy planted a bulb they took turns using the watering can to water the bulbs. 
 T planting his bulb.
J planting his bulb.
G digging up the dirt.
E watering the flowers.
Spring-time Walk- We then all went on a walk around the neighborhood looking for signs of Spring.  The boys all did pretty well and were good at listening when they were asked to wait.  J was really good at spotting the buds on the trees.  We also saw a few flowers on our walk.  We ended up back at W's house and looked at the blossoms just starting on her tree and talked about and sang "Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Tree" and how the blossoms look like popcorn. 
Snack- We then had popcorn and apples for snack.  While the boys were eating W read A Seed Grows to them. 
Seed Growing-  All the boys got to put a bean into a baggie with a paper towel and water to take home and watch it sprout.

Friday, March 18, 2011

St. Patrick's Day Party

We got the kiddos together for a fun St. Patrick's Day party that J had put together.  First W had the kids play Simon Says while they were waiting for their special breakfast to be made.  Each kid got a turn to be Simon and tell the others what to do.  The favorite actions seemed to be- fly like a dragon, jump, and stomp your feet.
We then had a great breakfast made by J. We had green shammrock waffles with green grapes, blueberries, apples, and bananas.  The kids really liked those waffles and the Moms too!
 
The kids then made St. Patrick's Day hats for a little parade we did.  Each kid had fun glueing, stickering, pipe cleanering, and glittering their hats.  It was fun how each hat was so different!

We also had fun playing hot potato, musical shammrocks, a parade, and story time from B.  This is the best group shot I could get.  Silly kiddos weren't very happy about the pics and E is being attacked by his sister so you can't see him:)

St Patrick's Day Party

On St. Patrick's Day, we got together for a little celebration. First we ate breakfast: Green waffles (shaped like shamrocks) and fruit. Then, we decorated "hats" and had a parade, played "hot potato" and "musical shamrocks," and Bonnie read two stories. It was fun and a HUGE THANK YOU to all the moms for making it a success! (Please feel free to add pics if you got better ones!)

BPS boys and siblings:
Breakfast:
Hot Potato:
Pat Hats:


Musical Shamrocks:
Story time: