A beautiful day to head to the farm. Sun shining, fresh air and energetic children- a perfect recipe! Upon arriving at the farm, we went for a run which lead us to saying good morning to the chickens ( we are finally learning how to be quiet near the coop) and then to the built in benches at The Sharing Farm where we all find our own special spot, put our hands over our heads and close our eyes. We even tried doing the "stork" position which required a lot of balance. Down we jumped into a circle to work on our observation and listening skills. We closed our eyes and listened. Just listened. We try to do this every time we go to the farm. There were many common themes of birds, airplanes, wind....and one unusual remark of "I heard a bear!"
We then decided to go check on the progress of the play area. We ran, walked, hopped along the pathways with some children noticing that everything "looks brown". On the way to the play area,we saw a coyote. We are not sure if it is the same coyote who has now grown much larger or if it is in fact a different coyote. We marvelled at its ability to pounce on its prey, strongly leaping with its two hind legs. We discussed it is likely eating voles. I suggested we look at our book on coyotes when we return to the centre.I was impressed on our return when little Emily ran over to the book shelf, opened the page on what coyotes eat and pointed to a vole looking creature! Great connections:)
Eventually, we made it to the play area and were happy to see stairs had been built next to the slide.
After all this activity, we all decided a snack was in order so we sat at a picnic table and opened our goodies. Cyanna took a bite of seaweed and decided it looked like a chair. I had to agree!
Bellies filled and children happy, we plunged into our garden to measure the growth of our fava beans and wheat since our last visit. Rulers were quickly transformed into spades and weapons.
With great anticipation we began to pull out our carrots and beets. If only I could record the squeals of delight as the children dug out the vegetables! A very rewarding moment for me personally as I tend to this garden through rain, heat, early mornings and late nights- it all makes it worth it!
A good bounty...which will be used for our Farm to Table dinner. The children washed their own vegetables and then we headed back to school.
We traced and drew vegetables....
We shelled and counted beans ( an activity that never gets boring)
We wanted to continue our discussion on what animals come from eggs so Dustin read a book which then unravelled into many questions and some answers.
And the greatest, cutest moment of the day... during our exploration of the letter C, we were guessing our picture cards. I had a picture of a "cake" so I gave them "treat" as a clue. They yelled out, in unison..."CARROTS!". Wow, how fantastic is that?
Emily
We then decided to go check on the progress of the play area. We ran, walked, hopped along the pathways with some children noticing that everything "looks brown". On the way to the play area,we saw a coyote. We are not sure if it is the same coyote who has now grown much larger or if it is in fact a different coyote. We marvelled at its ability to pounce on its prey, strongly leaping with its two hind legs. We discussed it is likely eating voles. I suggested we look at our book on coyotes when we return to the centre.I was impressed on our return when little Emily ran over to the book shelf, opened the page on what coyotes eat and pointed to a vole looking creature! Great connections:)
Eventually, we made it to the play area and were happy to see stairs had been built next to the slide.
After all this activity, we all decided a snack was in order so we sat at a picnic table and opened our goodies. Cyanna took a bite of seaweed and decided it looked like a chair. I had to agree!
Bellies filled and children happy, we plunged into our garden to measure the growth of our fava beans and wheat since our last visit. Rulers were quickly transformed into spades and weapons.
With great anticipation we began to pull out our carrots and beets. If only I could record the squeals of delight as the children dug out the vegetables! A very rewarding moment for me personally as I tend to this garden through rain, heat, early mornings and late nights- it all makes it worth it!
We traced and drew vegetables....
We shelled and counted beans ( an activity that never gets boring)
We wanted to continue our discussion on what animals come from eggs so Dustin read a book which then unravelled into many questions and some answers.
And the greatest, cutest moment of the day... during our exploration of the letter C, we were guessing our picture cards. I had a picture of a "cake" so I gave them "treat" as a clue. They yelled out, in unison..."CARROTS!". Wow, how fantastic is that?
Emily
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