We delved into sunflowers this week – observing them, drawing and painting them, playing with them, and using them for collages.
The texture table was full of silk sunflowers, and the popcorn kernels were the perfect backdrop.
On Monday we observed real sunflowers, paying special attention to roots, stems, leaves, and petals.
Tuesday the kids used what they had learned during their observations to sponge-paint sunflowers.
Wednesday we did observational drawings of sunflowers and painted them with watercolors. Our front bulletin board looks like a beautiful sunflower garden!
Thursday we cut up sunflower leaves and petals (great scissor practice!) to make collages.
There were huge sunflower heads out all week for seed extraction. Children used tweezers, fingers, or a combination of the two to collect as many seeds as they wished. We told them that they could save them and plant them next spring.
We played a counting game Tuesday using sunflowers and seeds.
There were supplies for sunflower collages at the flannel board and the creation station. Pasta petals, anyone? Thank you to Katie A. for cutting all of those shapes out of felt for us!
Our secondary theme this week was color. There were translucent Duplo blocks at the light table.
We moved the Magna-tiles to the building table and the kids had fun making all kinds of structures.
On Tuesday the kids used pipettes to mix colors in ice cube trays. Some of the colors they made are displayed in our window and the light looks so pretty coming through!
Thursday they mixed colors again – but this time with baking soda and vinegar for some fizzy fun.
We invited them to decorate their pages from the class book we made last week, “Small Friend, Small Friend, Who Do You See?” Our book is much more interesting now!
Scarlet and Coco got lots of love.
Here are a few more photos of friends at work and play during our open-ended, free time:
During our time together on the rug, we read books, danced with scarves, played rhythm sticks, played a rhyming game and a name game, did our Superhero Yoga sequence, and heard from more friends who shared Summer Memory Journal pages. They are doing such a great job with this!
For the next couple of weeks we’ll be clowning around at the circus! We’ll see you under the big top!
Warmly,
Lisa and Jelena
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