Ladybugs!

The Touch and Feel pool this morning has a "work" component to it.  The kids all had to rip red paper and use their finger muscles to roll in into tiny balls.  The ripping was way more fun....and way less work.....so we were left with bunches of little pieces of paper and not so many balls!

Morning circle is starting to look a little different as we get closer to the end of the school year!  Everyone has got the days of the week and the months of the year down pat.....so we moved on to rhyming and letter sounds and skip counting!  We're never short on things to learn around here!  Gotta keep the kiddos on their toes!

Ms. Michele was here today!  She had another fun obstacle course set up for the kiddos.  First, they each picked an animal card from a large pile.  They had to follow the directions on the card (stomp like an elephant, slither like a snake, run like a cheetah, swing like a monkey, etc.) from the green start line to the red finish line.  Then, there were several colored dots on the floor that the kids had to jump over.  Next was a long line of bubble wrap that they had to jump down and try to pop as many bubbles as they could.  (This was a BIG hit....super noisy and super cool feeling on our feet!).  At the end of the bubble wrap, there were some large tongs for the kids to use to pick a stuffed animal  out of a basket and transfer it to another pile.  Last.....but certainly not least....was a short ride on the scooter board.  Then....back to the start for another turn!!  After several turns, we ended with finger fun.  We used Wiki Stix to make shapes, letters, and people.  Some kiddos even used them to write their names!

No playground today.....the rain had everything soaked.  We took a walk around the neighborhood, and although we didn't see any bugs, there were lots of things to talk about.  Litter....and garbage trucks.....and dogs....kept our conversations interesting!

Our story today was Look Out, Ladybug by Jack Tickle.  Ladybug decides it's time to fly, but she's not very good at it yet. When she leaves her flower, she sees that her flying is a little wobbly. Ladybug tumbles onto an elephant, who then toots his trunk. She lands on tiger's tale and does a looped-the-loop. She crashes on crocodile and then lands on monkey's banana. Right when ladybug gets the confidence to fly perfectly in the sky, she forgets to look where she is going....and it seems she could be headed for a run in with a bear!!

During literacy circle, we made a Have/Can chart all about ladybugs.  This chart holds the information we know about ladybugs, and helps us form longer, more complete sentences!  The kids learned a lot about ladybugs today!!

For art, we used the red balls from the Touch and Feel to make ladybugs.  They had black spots, two eyes, two antennae, and six legs!

It was a fun day all about insects!  The kids have learned so much....and between Herman the Worm and Icky Icky Insects, we have found some new favorite songs!