What a magical spring the Oaks class has been enjoying!

Magical Tales

We have been reading magical tales (fairy tales and folk tales) indoors and out, and magical play abounds.  From mystery eggs, several baby dragons and unicorns have emerged.  The children have created dragon lairs and imaginary settings for magical creatures and royal folk, and they have dressed up and become those characters  The kids have also been working in pairs to create their own amazing magic tales and to perform their puppet shows for audiences on the playground.

On the Playground

Water Play!

Hot days call for getting wet!

Around Woodend

Spring Has Sprung!  Flowers are blooming, animals are out and about, birds are building nests, and the stream even has some flowing water from time to time.

The children have been enjoying splashing in the creek, finding critters, releasing our young wood frogs and newly emerged praying mantis babies, reading wonderful books outdoors, drawing imaginative pictures, and all sorts of adventures all around Woodend, including at our beloved Hilltop Home.

In the Classroom

The children’s creativity abounds inside the classroom. Building and drawing, often in collaborating with with friends. are favorite activities.

Planet Pals

We celebrated Earth Day (and Earth Month!) with a parade with the afternoon preschool class, complete with kid-designed planet pal puppets, fun songs and hand-made instruments.

Guest Teachers

Carol, Nancy and Caroline continue to enrich the children’s experience at school through their warm guidance, nature expertise and mindfulness activities.

A Visit from “The Bug Lady#

Kay, the Bug Lady, visited the Audubon Nature Preschool, delighting the children with a variety of interesting insects.

Miniature Parks

The children worked in small groups to design miniature parks (for fairies and other little creatures) and create maps for visitors.

Garden Visits

We worked with Jenny at the Children’s Garden to begin planting a three sisters’ garden inspired by a Native American tradition.  We made mounds of soil (“volcanoes”, buried fish heads and planted popcorn!  We also checked on our peas and greens and measured the growth of the plants.

We visited the Blair Native Plants Garden again, and each child drew another picture of their chosen plant in their spring garden journal.

Birds, Birds, Birds!

We began our bird unit this past week, and the wild birds cooperated perfectly.  On the first day of this new investigation, we discovered a Carolina wren nesting in the birdhouse on our playground with 5 tiny eggs, and we watched a pileated woodpecker as it traveled all around our lunch spot.

Incubating Eggs & Our 5 Little Chicks

On the morning of May 1st, after incubating for 21 days, our 5 little chicks hatched from their eggs.  We were able to witness some pipping and unzipping their shells.  Throughout the morning, they emerged one by one.  We are in love!

Books We’ve Read

As always, we have been reading lots of books inside and outside.  We have enjoyed many magical tales including classic fairy tales and stories of adventures with dragons.  We have also been perusing information books about birds.

Songs We’ve Sung

Over the past few weeks we have sung songs about fairy tales, dragons, planet pals, birds and more!