Seasons and Weather

Monday was pajama day this week we we participated in spirit week for homecoming at Palatine High School.  It is always great to see our little pirates join in the homecoming spirit!  We ended up with a short week this week due to the royal rally bell schedule change but the two days we had together were packed with activities talking about the changing seasons and weather.

We had a great time with various science activities this week as the children identified colors that might represent different seasons and then watched as a rainbow of volcanoes erupted before their eyes!

Speaking of rainbows, we made rainbows using Skittles on our plates with warm water.  We have done this one other time this year and it has been such a hit the children have asked to do it again.  So, in honor of the season of spring we made rainbows in the classroom.

We used Q-tips to paint small leaves on our trees this week as the children made trees for fall or spring or the summer.  They based what colors they chose on some of the other experiments and class discussions we had at opening circle.

We also worked with leaves and trees for our math activity this week by giving the children trees with numbers written on their branches.  Each child was given a baggie with leaves in it that matched the numbers on their tree.  They then had to match the numbers and glue the correct leaves to their tree branches.

Wednesday we talked a lot about the season to come; winter.  As we spend much of our year in the cold on Chicagoland, we thought we would prepare a little for it now by building snowmen out of cotton balls.  The children were given an outline of a snowman and then asked to practice 'good glue usage' as they attached white cotton to their papers.

Then the most fun of the year thus far happened-an INDOOR SNOWBALL FIGHT!  The children were set loose in the room with cotton, cotton and more cotton stuffing!  They were able to pick it up and throw it at each other and then got the idea to make snow angels!  We had an amazing end to this very short week!

What's Coming Up?

Next week we will be talking about careers in a variety of ways, look for timeless activities where the children will be telling us what they want to grow up to be some day.

Thursday, October 27 will be our annual Trick or Treat Festival at Palatine High School from 5:00 - 6:30 PM.  It is a free event and always a lot of fun for everyone [trick or treaters under the age of 12 are welcome].

Our Halloween Party during preschool will be on Monday, October 31st.  More details will be going home in the next week or so.