August - End of Summer

Today we will talk about end of Summer. Days become shorter, in an air are flying tiny webs - the spiders traveling around to find a safe place. It still warm outside, but more often we can feel cool breath of Fall. It means Indian Summer coming. It is very hot time for farmers - they are harvesting vegetables, fruits and grain crops. Today we are talking how important is job of farmers for our society.
Harvesting crain crops.

Why we need so much grains?
Our children discussed - How and what we can make with grain.
They explore different kind of grain and talk about similar and differences.
At this time we suddenly decided to make a bread....Is it easy?
At least we can try it!
So, Internet, as always, is helpful.
Wonderful recipe:
1 part of process:

·       1 tbs of east (I took dry french)

·       2  tbs of sugar

·       3 tbs of flour

·       300 ml warm water

keep in warm place 15 min

after add

2 part of process:

·       1 ts of salt

·       4 tbs of oil

It takes around two cups of flour to knead a dough. First with spoon after with hand (children enjoyed this part, the whole process was just WOW!)
Make a pastries and let to grow for 5- 15 min. 350 * F oven and you done in 25-30 min.
When children woke up they had amazing snack - healthy and so tasty!
Look how our children enjoyed the process!

Some little pumpkins...

Ok , we still did not have pumpkins to curve them; so we  tried to fulfil it with some Halloween decorations. There are few pumpkins from wonderful blog Dziurka i take tam... with master class how to make them.

And more pumpkins!!!

In the garden, in the garden - Fall is coming now!

Today we continued to talk with children about Harvest. Children remember that we have already mentioned as the harvester gathers the wheat grain, as the drum rotates the feed grain on the threshing machine and then how on the  mill grain was grounded into the flour.
Children discussed vegetables yjose growing in the garden. Hey! do you see an apple on this picture?
Tommy eat in for snack! this is very healthy snack and good for Tommy's body - It has a lot of vitamines and minerals! Imagine that Tommy bites it. How the apple will look like now? And Tommy bites one more time, ond more... so finally apple look like that and we will put it in? Exactly! in a food waste bin. Ususally this bin has? Yes, green color. Do we have nim like that in our class?

Cjildren had an opportunity to touch, smell and taste all vegetables! Some of them enjoy smell herbs some did not like the smell.

Look at those mushrooms made by children!

That is my cat with the lomg long tail!

 This potato is yellow, I made a sun! and little pink piglet love it!

That was really fun tasty and cool snack today!

How do animals share food

We continued to talk about upcoming winter and how animals survive through it.
If you look my post before here, you will find a story-noisemaker "Winter in the forest".
To help children better understand it I set up my harvest basket in this way:

"Hey! Look what I bring you today! This is my harvest basket with vegetables and fruits! But I here weird sound...did you?"

I used the same musical instruments as I used with children to tell the story "Winter in the forest"

And children heard that!!! They recognize the sound how squirrels cracked nuts and mice  nibbled (chomped) grain.

So, we look in the basket and find there 

Mouse, Rabbit (Bunny), Hedgehog, Squirrel.

Why they hiding there? Oh, yes! They are looking for the food!

Let's help them to find their food.

What does Bunny eat?

Carrot, Cabbage, Apple (sure!), 

What does Mouse eat?

Grain, maybe Carrot, maybe Pumpkin?

What does Hedgehog eat?

Apples, Apples!!!!

What does Squirrel eat?

Nuts and mushrooms!!!

We were jumping as a Bunnies, crawling as a Hedgehog, singing as a Mouse and knocking wooden sticks as a Squirrel!

Join us and 

Have fun!

Visit my blog to see our new activities!

For planning this lesson I have used story-noisemaker and songs of Catherine and Sergey Zheleznov. 

Vegetable soup for dolls

Today we continue to learn about the Harvest. Guess what we cooking today?

 We used the song

Put the veggie in the pot,
Stir it well, nice and hot!
We are cooking, veggie's soup
For the dinner
Every child chooses one vegetable and drop it in the pot, mixing with the big spoon!
We had a small group of children so we choose only six vegetables.

We also were plying with our new toy - peas.

The pod made with felt fabric and actually for peas I used green pompoms of different size.

There is 5 pompoms, we can count small and big pompoms, describe size and colours

Now we can serve the table with dishes and spoons and feed our dolls!

Bon appetite!

More activities here
Russian version under

Vegetable colours and shapes

Usually, we try to explain children that pear might be yellow or green, apple might be small and big.
Give them an opportunity to guess what it might be in real?

Yes, may be cabbage does not look exactly, but children will find out that is cabbage!

Math in Fall

Harvest theme is good to learn shapes, colours and names of fruit and vegetables.
Once upon a time....
there was a little moose Mussi. He was born last spring and just discover the forest confidentially. He was travelling around and explore plants in the forest. He loved berries, but there wasn't berries in the forest any more. And Mammy still did not come.... UUhu!!! cried Mussi. Suddenly he heard quiet noise in the bush.
Hey! Who is there? asked Mussi.
That was me! - two little grey ears appear above the bush.and two bright black eyes looked through the branches. - Why are you crying?- that was little Bunny.
I am hungry!!!!!!!! cried Mussi what I should eat for dinner?
Ok, Let's think... you are moose, you have for legs, you have two ears, you have two horns, you have two eyes and one tail.... Tail is short, but in fact I can tell you that you are a cow...So, you should eat as a cow!- was wondering Bunny
What are you talking about??? Who is a cow? I am not cow!!!- Mussi stopped crying and looked on Bunny.
I think, I know where we can get food for you! But...there is somebody Tall who is waving his arms... so scary...-whispered Bunny
Let's go, I am not scary, let's go get food!!! said Mussi and they moved forward.
Where do you think they came?
Guess who was waving arms there?
Can Mussi find food there?
Where growing vegetables and fruit?
Understanding concept "on"and "in",

Sing and dance together!

Children create circle and walking in one direction. When its starts about veggies, child, who present that vegetable comes inside the circle and dancing. now he or she choose another child who present next vegetable and coming back to the circle. children change direction.

September at the door!

September at the door! Children prepare to go to the school, farmers prepare to work hardly!
Let's look on the field! Time for harvest, Crops are ready!
To teach very young preschoolers we create a garden and listen song

We are dancing we are singing and choosing vegetables!

For the class I am using karaoke version, so children can sing about vegetable which they choose.

Russian version of "Walking to the garden"

Pumpkin carving

Yesterday we were carving the pumpkin with children. After an introduction to Halloween celebration they were very eager to try to create their own Jack'o Lantern!

Thanks Mila for this great experience :)

Look here for our last year experience

Turkey bowling

Do you know why do Americans play a football all three days of Thanksgiving?

Look at this guy! I think he is very good player! I feel he wants to score, no.... knock  out the bird!

 Guess which? Sure, turkey! That was surprise for me when I found somewhere in internet this information. Look at this picture!(source Wikipedia)

So? Why we can not play on Thanksgiving? No, we are not going to play football... we will play "Turkeyball"!

 You will need at least 10 children who want to play this game;

Easy template to draw a turkey;

Crayons or paint to colour it;

Plastic bottle with water (water makes it stable);

Two pumpkins medium size;

Tape - sticky and any tape to make a line.

Draw the turkey and color it.

Cut out and tape on the bottle.

Go out and find nice flat field with grass.( You can play also on pavement but game will finish fast because you will crack the pumpkin. At list you will have another science project to explore what is inside the pumpkin...)

Ok, you can play in classroom if you children will not throw the pumpkin as a player on the picture!

Make two teams and put them on the line. Put turkeys in from of children.

Let children shoot the turkeys in pairs and count haunted turkeys.

Can you imagine? Girls won!!!!

Harvest time for very little people

Still my grades 2th are exploring fruits and vegetables I had my art class in toddlers room. I love those little people who exactly know what to do with the stuff which they got. Such silly adults, they collect crops in those wonderful baskets, but don't know how it is cool to sit inside a big basket!
We had for our activity:
3 baskets in different sizes and shapes - one the biggest was the most used, that was rectangle basket and everyone wanted to sit inside!
We had pumpkins and corn all natural.
Pumpkins were again in different colours and shapes; corn was dry and had a husk.
We compare baskets and pumpkins, collect corn and pumpkins in different baskets, divided pumpkins small and big, Hey Look at this - little boy 1,4 - sweeps the floor with husk! Did you think that you may use corn as a broom? MMMMMMMMMMmmmmmmm.........It is interesting!

We also play some games such as "Pass the  pumpkin", children were learning to pass soft pumpkin to next person, but hold it when music change!

And we rolled the pumpkin around the room! So much fun!!!!!
Time for ART!
You will need:
Brown paper bag;
Piece of green paper to make a leaf;
Tape to fix the leaf;
 Couple strings of dry grass.
A lot of news paper
Tear news paper in smaller pieces and crumple it.

Now stuff brown bag with news paper.

Twist the top of bag and fix the leaf with tape.
Tie twisted part with grass!

Hey!!!  We got the pumpkin! 

Help your child to draw eyes and mouse and there you go!

 Jack-o-Lantern - BOOOOOO!

Or just the pumpkin for Thanksgiving!

I will take it home!I will take it home!-Repeated my little friend, who could talk. Rest of them just silently hold their pumpkins in their hands....Strong...

I am going to share my experience with Liza here

Crumpled apple and 3D pumpkin.

Nothing new! Impressed by the harvest basket children decided to make a vegetable and fruit collage. What techniques they choose? They are very good to work with tissue paper;

 but suddenly Michel told: "Do you remember , last Christmas we made a round paper ornament? I would like to make a 3D pumpkin, is it possible? "
Yes , why not?
I think there are  many tutorials  in internet about this toy. We just reminded what we will need:
1 and 1/2 page construction paper
Scissors, ruler, pencil
Hole puncher,
Two pipe cleaners
Piece of green construction paper for leaf
Divide paper with ruler and pencil in half,(you will need approximately 3 halfs)
 and after in stripes around 2 cm
Cut rectangles and make with hole puncher holes at the end of each side
put the bead on the end of pipe cleaner (choose the colour according to your fruit or vegetable)
Cut last half in half along and make a paper pipe (fix with tape or glue.
Now put 14-16 rectangles on the pipe cleaner.
Put the paper pipe on the pipe cleaner as well. That will keep your stripes at the bottom and top.

Now you should strung rectangles on the pipe cleaner, starting from very bottom, one by one.
Watch children if they are doing it neatly one by one, do not  miss any one!
Finally you will get perfect ball. Or almost perfect.
Fix the top with another bead and finish steam with the leaf.
Let me know if you have any problem!

Fix the top with another bead and finish steam with the leaf.
Let me know if you have any problem!

These green stripes

are for watermelon. We decided to draw dark green stripes on each rectangle.

It has seeds inside!

Ready for Thanksgiving!