Farmer's Market for the preschool set

There are a lot of surprisingly lovely things about living in Las Vegas. The weather is ridiculous, the traffic is nonexistent, and we're within driving distance of the beach. But there are of course some negatives. I'm actually less worried about the prevalence of "working girls" at the local grocery store as I am by the lack of fresh fruits at vegetables at the same establishment. I worry that my kids won't appreciate the importance of locally-grown food because, unfortunately, most of their food isn't locally-grown. 

All this wonderful worry prompted Farmer's Market week at school.

We started discussing farms and food on Monday, weaving it into the remaining curriculum (2 weeks to go!). 

Reading "The Vegetables are Sleeping"

"Where is Thumbkin?"

We utilized some play cash registers and play food to create a farmer's market. The kids took turns shopping and selling the food while we asked questions to the "farmers." It was a good example of intentional play, and the kids did great. I can tell this type of role playing will be even better next year.

Shopping

Noah selling lettuce

Addison ringing up some bread

We incorporated some Montessori tactics into snack time. Using these cool placemats my mom brought me, the kids each had a role in preparing snack. Addison and Annabelle set the table, Jack got everyone water, Noah washed and separated the grapes and Eisley cut the cheese (hehehe). 

We worked in some writing practice and fine motor skill development with a glue-the-corn-on-the-cob activity. We wrapped up the day with a little game of "seed, sprout, or salad".

Seed...

...sprout... (salad (not pictured) was essentially a crazy, mixed up shake)

On Thursday we made our way to Springs Preserve to visit the Bet on the Farm farmer's market. Founded by chef Mario Batali (among others), this truly is the best farmer's market in the Vegas area. The farmers were SO wonderfully nice to the kids, taking time to let us smell and feel flowers and produce. We even got a lead on an organic farm in Vegas proper that offers school tours and activities (Cowboy Trail Farm: www.cowboytrailfarm.com).

Organized chaos: walking in a line, holding onto a jumprope. You drop the jumprope, you're OUT!

Checking out locally-produced honey

Eisley buying us $8 raspberries to share. Yes, $8. It's a wonderful farmer's market, but its not cheap.

Our haul: lettuce, sweet potato, carrot, snap peas, kiwi and several varieties of oranges.

Spring!

Since Easter was so early this year, I found that we were a little "off" as far as the curriculum is concerned. Most of the activities for week 32 revolved around Easter, so I decided to wing it and do some different stuff this week instead. The focus of our lessons this week revolved around Spring, and of course, around the letter "x". We talked a lot about seasons during calendar time, and the kids did a great job telling all sorts of things that happen in nature in the Spring.

Then we read Mortimer's First Garden by Karma Wilson. In the story, little Mortimer mouse learns to trust God as he plants his very last sunflower seed. The kids got to see how one little seed grows into a big, tall plant, and then how it produces many more seeds.





We also looked at the parts of a plant, and talked about what happens when a seed grows. I showed the kids some pictures from our Usborne Science Activities Book. We talked about what plants need in order to grow, and about how seeds produce roots and shoots when they start to grow.



 

 



We then planted some of our own seeds to see if we could make them sprout. I gave each student a clear plastic cup, some paper towels, and 3 bean seeds (they sprout quickly). The kids crumpled up the towels and placed them in the cup. Then they added water and "planted" their seeds between the towel and the cup so we could watch the seeds germinate. They did great following directions!

 

 

 

 

 

I also wanted to do a little art lesson today. I showed the kids the first piece of art pictured in My Very First Art Book (it's another Usborne title).

 

 

We talked about doodles and about how they can be turned into beautiful pieces of art. Then they got to make their own doodles. The girls were definitely more excited about this one than the boys!

 

 

 

Next we did some cutting practice. I gave each child a piece of paper with two shapes and they had to use their scissors to cut the shapes out all by themselves. This caused a LOT of frustration...but they ALL stuck with it and cut out their shapes! This is a hard skill...and I know I personally need to give Addison more opportunities to practice.

 

 

Nice work, Jack!

 

 

Eisley has come a LONG way this year with her cutting skills!

 

And after a bit of a battle and a meltdown or two, Addison decided to stick with it, and she cut both her shapes out too. Nice work kiddos!

 

At school on Thursday, we went through our Bible story, song, and verse again, and we read The Curious Garden to get us ready to talk about our seeds.

 

The kids all decided that plants and flowers make a place much more beautiful to look at. And with that, we decided it was a good time to check and see if there were any changes with the seeds we planted.

 

 

The kids noticed right away that they looked different, and we talked about what we saw as we looked inside the cups. We also compared our seeds to the pictures in the science book we read on Monday.

 

 

 

 

Next we did another garden-related experiment. I gave each child a white carnation flower and a cup of water. The kids put some food coloring in the cup and then placed the flower inside. We talked again about what plants need to grow, and I explained that the stem of a flower is like a straw. In a couple days, the flower should begin to change colors because it's drinking the colored water through it's straw. I'm not sure they believed me, but sure enough, it worked! I saw Annabelle a couple days later and she was excited to report that her flower was turning GREEN!

Eisley is hoping her bloom will turn pink!

 

 

We also talked more about the letter X, and we did a little writing practice.

 

 

 

Next we did a little activity to practice making a pattern. Each child was given a strip of paper with a pattern on it (the pattern used vegggies). And they were given a blank strip of paper with the pattern pieces missing. I put all the veggies in the center of the table and they had to choose which veggies they needed to duplicate their pattern. They did quite well with this one.

 

 

 

 

And to wrap up the day, we played "Button Button" which was a TOTAL hit. If you're not sure how to play, you can find our how right HERE. This is one we will definitely have to play again. They LOVED it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HOSANNA!

First we started with some stretching! We did the "Teddy Bear" movement Poem.

Then, we played a game to review our letters and numbers! The kids picked a number or a letter our of the green basken and had to say what it was.  If they didn't know, they could ask a friend.  I was REALLY impressed the the preschoolers' recall skills! Lucky Noah wanted to pick an "N" and he did! Haha!

Since our bible story was the story of Jesus riding into town on a donkey or the "Palm Sunday" story, we made donkey puppets!

We also did a dot to dot picture of a palm branch.  The kids are getting better better with the dot to dots! We colored them green and waved them around saying, "Hosanna!"

We also worked on patterns.  The kids did a great job figuring out what came next!

We ended with some fun on the trampoline! And yes, Jack is wearing a pink hat! Haha!