In the fall we winterize our Mason Bee house. The children learned the parts of the bee, about the bee cycle and what makes a bee an insect. The children helped check the cocoons and remove them from the trays. We were happy to see that we have quite a few cocoons this year. The children will get to help us put out our bees in the spring.
At the end of our habitat unit the children had two cooking projects where we dived deeper into some concepts we have been learning. The children made fruit salad with fruits and herbs from different habitats, and we examined them to see what adaptations they have which help them grow in their habitat. The children also made dino bread and using toy dinosaurs made trace fossil in the dough.
Art week was a blast the children learned about 5 different artists and got to explore multiple mediums. We made prints and looked at how Andy Warhol used common object and people to inspire his art. Ms. Eva introduced the children to early cubism by looking at Paul Klee’s work and how he used shapes to create pictures. Like Klee the children examined art by Matisse to see how he used shapes in a different way. These are just three of the artists that we learned about this year. The children additionally dived into lines, color and composition and how they impact their art.
Fall days are wonderful for lots of outdoor activities. A big highlight has been gardening. The children have been busy plant, watering, clearing and caring for our gardens. The kids were particularly proud of how pretty their flowers look.
Today we learned about the bee cycle and harvested our Mason bee cocoons from the bee house.
The children took turns gently scrapping the cocoons off the tunnel tracks. After that we did an art extension by drawing a flower on a plate, stringing yellow and black pony beads on a chenille stick and twisting it to make a bee and gluing it to our flowers.
In spring we will be watching for food sources (blossoms on our cherry trees, wildflowers in our garden) to see if it is time to bring our cocoons back outside to hatch and continue the cycle!
The children have been learning a bit about Hanukkah. As an extra special treat, we also had some special guests for cooking! Elise and her mom Cheryl came in and taught the children how to make Latka’s. They also shared some Hanukkah stories and songs with the children. The children had fun tying their hand at spinning a dreidel and voted on what they thought the best Latka toppings were.
Starting the Summer off with many fun outdoor adventures. The children learned about Moving Machines, learned about the creatures that help our Earth our “Garden Hero’s the children then learned about how and why we care for our Earth. The children ended camp with learning about our global community. The children learned about the Olympics and fairy tales from around the world.
Over the course of the summer the children’s gardens blossomed the children enjoyed eating peas, chives, radishes, raspberries, lettuce, nasturtium, and strawberries. The children also grew wildflowers for our pollinators and were excited to see the pumpkin plants they planted last fall begin to flower.
In fall the pupae that were laid by the adult bees during the summer have developed into adult bees in their cocoons. We harvested these cocoons for safe-keeping over the winter. Otherwise they would be susceptible to mites and mice.
Harvesting involved a 4 step process:
During the winter the cocoons will have enough food to keep the bees growing until they are ready to be placed in the garden next spring.
Spaghetti is fun to make and yummy to eat. The children enjoyed making spaghetti from scratch learning to crack eggs, stir, kneed, cut, and then enjoy their food with friends. To extend this the children read “Albert Bergetti and a bowl of spaghetti”
