Somewhere over the rainbow...

Since we exploded our volcanoes on Tuesday, instead of waiting until the end of the week. Then on Thursday we learned all about the weather and even got to see a demonstration of the water cycle in action. I was feeling a little lost about what to do on Friday. Finally late on Thursday after hearing, "Somewhere Over the Rainbow", I decided rainbows would be the perfect way to end the week. After all rainbows are beautiful, colorful, and a combination of natural phenomenon and weather....what could be better?

So we started off with an estimating activity. The first cup had 20 rainbow-colored Skittles, the last had 80...so the kids were supposed to use the information they were given and try to estimate how many were in the middle glass.

What is your guess? (I'll have the answer in the comment section.)

Then I showed the kids this photo from our trip to the National Zoo last summer (with my sister AnnaLisa). They were completely fascinated by this point and then we did a tally graph to find out how many of them had ever seen a real rainbow. Five of the kids said they had and three said they had not.


Thank goodness for a beautiful sunny April day, because then we headed outside to make our own rainbows! Using these little plastic prisms (from Michael's) the sunlight reflected tiny little rainbows onto their papers. If you click on the above picture you'll be able to see it in much greater detail, and then you should be able to see how perfect those tiny little rainbows really were.

Then using our little mirrors, a bowl of water, and our papers we were able to hold the mirror in the water and reflect wavy, moving rainbows onto our papers. It was a little tricky to get just the right angle, but it was ever so exciting when the rainbow appeared!


Then it was off to make our Fruit Loop rainbows while we listened to some fun rainbow songs from the computer! We talked a lot about the order of the colors in the rainbow and more about how they are formed.

Definitely another fun day in preschool! (Don't forget to check the comments to see how close your guess was.)

Explosive day at preschool!

We had fun learning about volcanoes today! We learned about the earth's crust and the ring of fire and looked at lots of pictures of exploding volcanoes. The kids were all bursting with questions and interesting bits of information that related to volcanoes (kind of). How excited they were when they found out that they got to make their own!

Here they are getting started on building their own volcanoes and arranging tin-foil over the cup and plate.
Then it was on to "decorating" them with rocks, trees, pine cones, and sea shells to resemble Martha's. Too bad I made a defective batch of play dough, so that everyone's but Martha's got to stay metallic.

After finishing our tin and paper volcanoes everyone got to try to eat their own volcano...an overturned waffle cone drizzled with pudding. I thought everyone would be excited by this fun snack, but I don't think anyone was a fan of pudding made with rice milk...so most everyone did not get very far eating them.



Then it was off to "explode" their creations!

Shrieks and laughter accompanied each and every explosion!

Our deck will smell like vinegar for weeks!

How can you beat the expression on Logan's face?

"Uh oh! What happened?" The cup wasn't flush enough with the plate, so it exploded under instead of up.


Everyone showing off their works of art!

What a wonderful group of kids we have!

An Ode to the Boston Tea Party

Today we learned about Thomas Jefferson and the Declaration of Independence. We discussed some of the things the American Patriots wanted freedom from, including freedom from taxes on their tea. Back in the day, people refused to buy different goods from England, including tea. So, we're drinking lemonade in rebellion:) I was sure to let the kids know, we are currently on good terms with England, especially after Eden E. commented that she used to live there.

Colonial Dance

Dancing as Thomas Jefferson would. We've got the very complex two circle arrangement going on here!

A True Asian Experience

What a fun week our children had this week at preschool. They started off at our resident musical expert's home learning all about George Frederic Handel, about composing and conducting music, and how to recognize different types of notes on a staff.

George Frederic Handel

Then on Thursday they started learning all about Asia. They learned about some Indian and Japanese customs and got to try creating their own little bit of Japanese calligraphy.
Adam's version of the Japanese kanji for "mountain". There were definitely some more detailed ones done by other children, but this is the only sample here at my house!




Then they got to sample some authentic Japanese food (although they were a little scared of most everything but the plain rice and the candy). The chopsticks were a fun experience for everyone (and they were pretty good at it).



Here are our cute kids all dressed up in their Japanese clothing--

Hapi (pronounced "hoppy") coats for the boys

And kimonos for the girls

Logan showing off a cool karate kick

Thanks to Laura and Martha for making this week at preschool a memorable, fun, and informative experience!

Demise of Pompeii

So the story of our wild, crazy, and messy day of preschool (from the beginning)...

Last August our family went to Busch Gardens in Williamsburg and my macho husband (seriously you should have seen his strut) won this life-size dolphin. From the beginning I was not a fan--wondering not only how we'd get it home, but where it could possibly reside in our home! However the kids were smitten and Glen was so proud of his superior aiming skills that there was no denying I was outnumbered, thus the addition of "Pompeii" into our bustling home (named after one of the kids' favorite rides at Busch Gardens, "Escape from Pompeii").

I've been secretly hoping for his "death" for many months, mumbling under my breath every time I had to move him from a bed, to a couch, to on top of Ellie's play kitchen...anywhere out of the way. The kids even took to riding him down our stairs, a process I hoped would speed his destruction.

After 6 plus months of stair rides, wrestling matches, and usage as a giant pillow I was beginning to think he was indestructible...until today.

Five minutes after preschool began today I had a breathless preschooler run up the stairs to tell me that Cami's dolphin was broken. I was quite unconcerned as I came down to take care of it. If I would've known that this was the sight I was to be greeted with, I would've run a lot faster and probably not have grabbed the camera, but hey at least I have some documentation of the crazy day now.

After a super speedy trip to Pompeii's final resting place...the trash can...


I came back in to find them literally rolling on the floor and covering each other with his styrofoam stuffing.


This is what they looked like at this point (maybe a total of 15 minutes into preschool now).


So, while they played, I vacuumed and vacuumed and vacuumed some more, but every time someone took a step they left a trail of white footprints ( the epitome of a vicious cycle)...


... so the only thing I could think to do other than giving them all baths and a fresh change of clothes was to vacuum the kids (how's that for a fun preschool memory?).


Vacuuming was a little more effective on the boys with their short hair...


...than on the girls who were still quite a sight to behold even after a thorough vacuuming.

Eventually we did have a little preschool time (confined to the basement so as to minimize the spread of Pompeii's innards through the house). The kids thoroughly enjoyed playing store and going shopping with real money, but I imagine if you ask them the highlight of the day it will probably be related to a giant dolphin!

Who would have ever thought that Pompeii's demise would be as explosive as his namesake's ?

The Five Senses

Today at preschool we learned all about the five senses.


We used our sense of smell to sniff things like vinegar, rubber ball, lemonade, and play doh.


Then we used our sense of hearing to...


FREEZE DANCE! (they had so much fun)



Then we used our sense of sight to look at sizes, shapes, and colors of things.



Then we used our sense of taste to try some different flavors, like sweet...



and not so sweet...salty, bitter, and sour (they all thought the salt was sugar and took healthy samples, then did the same with the unsweetened cocoa--they just thought chocolate...it must be good. I really wish I would've had the camera out at that point to capture their faces. Huge drinks of water were had by all!)



And finally we used our sense of touch. We felt bumpy, smooth, soft, rough, and scratchy (in their own words).

It was another great day at preschool!