S Is For Spiders, Snakes & Sherbet

These are just a few "s" words from today. We discovered that fruit sherbet is really good. (So good that one friend said he was going to get this every time he goes to the ice cream store.) It was a refreshing treat that made our mouths smile with silly colors. We also made spiders last week when we were learning about insects and arachnids. They are hanging all around our room and aren't as creepy as you think. The children love looking at their work and it was perfect for our letter of the week.
We also have many other creatures in our science center. Today one of our friends overcame her fear of this center and the creepy crawly plastic friends that live there. She was very proud that she could even hold this plastic snake in her hand.

Recycled Snack Packs

To celebrate Earth Day we made these really cool snack containers from milk jugs. They aren't so pretty to look at, but they are super easy to use. As we rapidly approach the end of the year, we are spending a lot of time talking about kindergarten readiness.

Goodbye Puff & Walker

At the end of our Spring Fling, Mrs. Wanda set all of the butterflies free. We weren't sure which ones were Puff and Walker, but were cheered as they stretched their wings and flew away. It was amazing to watch our tiny caterpillars grow into big caterpillars, make their cocoons and emerge as beautiful Painted Lady butterflies. Hooray and have a happy life butterfly friends.

The Fun Bus

This is the "Fun Bus." It is a real thing and it really came to our preschool. During Spring Fling, it was finally our turn to enter the totally awesome and really crazy "fun bus." The music was energizing and we had so much fun on this obstacle filled bus.

Fun At Spring Fling

Besides face painting, there was lots of fun at our Spring Fling. There were hula hoops, chalk, and parachute games. We did such a good job taking turns and working together. (of course, we couldn't wait for the Fun Bus - but we had to wait our turn.)

Face Painting Is The Best

We love Spring Fling! But, we love face painting the best. Thank you to the parent volunteers who were the creative artists at the face painting table. The children were very proud of their art work.

Trash Free Lunch, No Way?

Thank you so much parents for a wonderful trash free lunch week. The children learned a lot about our planet and were amazed to see how much of our lunch trash could be recycled or re-used. Some of us even wanted to put our take home containers in the recycling bin and were surprised to find out that this was the best kind of lunch to have. There lunch created no trash at all.

Letter M

We had a lot of fun with the letter "m" this week. Along with lots of other words,"m" is for Minnie Mouse and mustache.

Growing With Love

Our theme this week is nature and plants. It is a wonderful unit to follow Easter. The children are so excited about the seeds that we placed in our greenhouses. The Lima bean seeds are just waiting to sprout and the children are using extreme patience with this scientific process. Every day they can't wait to see what changed over night. It is so much fun to see them enjoy learning. Who knew that observing nature would be so exciting? We also took a nature walk to find some dandelions. The seeds are so light and "airy" and float everywhere in the breeze. We talked about how easy it is for us to share God's love - just like the crazy dandelion seeds -we can share it everywhere.

Puff and Walker Get Their Wings

I know it is hard to tell from the picture, but Puff and Walker are now beautiful Painted Lady butterflies. We observed yesterday that they were all snug in their cocoons and today Mrs. Wanda put them in the tent for them to wake up. This process is totally amazing. You can see the butterflies as you enter the preschool's front doors. If you catch the butterflies at just the right time, you can watch their wings unfurl. I find myself humming "so rise and shine and give God the Glory, Glory..."

Catch of the Day

I just had to share our first big catch of spring 2010. Can you tell by the smiling faces that our fishing trip was fun? So much pride in one small fish. This was the best part of our spring break.

Spring Break

This was our morning news report about the fun things we did during our spring break. It was fun to be away, but everyone was really happy to be back. We missed our preschool but rejoiced in the good news of Easter.

Back To School

We made it back to school with lots of energy. The weather is so beautiful that it makes really hard for anyone to concentrate on working indoors. These sweaty faces show how much fun the playground is when the weather is just perfect - not too hot, not too cold but just right.

"Easter Dandies"

Here are my handsome boys all dressed for Easter services. They look grown up in their vintage bow-ties. I hope everyone had fun getting dressed in their new Easter clothes and that the Easter bunny hopped by with a few treats. The boys did a great job at church assisting in the service. It was a beautiful day to celebrate our Risen Lord!

Alleluia! He Is Risen!

Happy Easter! Today is all about celebrating our Risen Lord! We can shout Alleluia and sing praises to Jesus! Thank you God for sending your only Son to die for us on the cross. This is the GOOD NEWS! Have a wonderful day and take a few minutes to thank God for the many blessings in your life, especially His love and forgiveness.

Share, Serve and Love

At the end of the day we all got our special cross necklaces that we decorated earlier in the week. Since we had spent so much time talking about Jesus and His very long walk to the cross, we spent time focusing on His job for us - to share His love with everyone. We made these special cross necklaces to remind us that even though Jesus dies on the cross, we are never really alone. He comes back to us on Easter morning and lives in our hearts forever. The children's faces were so full of His love that I had to share them. I know that it sounds so silly when I share these stories about the children - but they are so true. These boys and girls are constantly showing Mrs. Laurie and I God's grace and love - we just want to say thanks for giving us such beautiful children to work with each day. Happy Easter!

Pastor Nathan

Today we had a little visit from Pastor Nathan, or as the children call him "Pastor Nafer." (He is the Pastor of my home congregation - St. James Lutheran Church.) He stopped by to tell us all about Holy Week and Maundy Thursday. He also taught us a fun song about ways to serve our Lord. He always brings the good news of God, even during such a sad week. Thanks Pastor Nathan for sharing God's love with us today.

The Easter Egg Hunt

Today was our big Easter egg hung and it was so much fun. The weather was so sunny and we did a great job finding our eggs. Of course, there wasn't really any hiding involved - but there was lots of hunting. Out of 96 eggs, each child had to find their very own six. They were so good at helping each other and not walking on the eggs that had not been found.

The really fun part of the egg hunt was finding all of the treats hidden in our eggs. Candy treats, tiny toys and necklaces. Happy Easter to everyone!