sensory tub fun

A little science in the sensory tub - first we squirted in some shaving cream and then we added cornstarch.  There was a dramatic change in consistency almost immediately.  Eventually, the cornstarch soaked up most of the water in the shaving cream.  It was sooooo soft!

How We Celebrated Turning 5 :)

park (Her new favorite is the tire swing!)

painted pottery

bought a wishing stone

lunch at the tea house

frozen yogurt with Leslie for afternoon snack :)

It was so much fun spending your birthday with you, Ella!

Happy Birthday, Ella!

Some Things We're Learning

practicing sight words with matchbox cars

some fine motor cutting for a rainbow

spelling cvc words

body awareness with mat man from handwriting without tears

and, of course, we always have a little music in our day :)

cooling off

Funny how the blow up pool was as much a hit with Leslie as it was with Ella!

Back to the Garden

I am surprised by how much Ella loves the botanical gardens.  She leads me through, stopping to explore her favorite spots.  She likes the butterfly house, the child-sized house with little brooms and furniture, watering the children's garden using a water pump to fill her watering can, swinging, stepping stones to cross a little brook, running down a grassy hill, relaxing in a hammock, trying out the steel drums in the Caribbean garden, and the list goes on and on.  She has an amazing amount of energy and can always outlast me on garden outings!  During this visit, it was fun to check out all of the gnomes they've added to the children's garden and the African statue exhibit that is going on in the main gardens.

Bird Unit

Last week we made birds with Crayola air dry clay.  We used a drinking straw to poke a hole for wings and an eye and then left them to dry.  This morning, Ella painted them with watercolors and then poked ribbons through the wing hole for the wings :)

We made a bird book using our sight words this and is.  Ella illustrated the book with some of the different types of birds we've been learning about.

We found the idea for these paint splotch birds on Pinterest :)