Under the Sea

We had a terrific time hearing about Spring Break fun this week and listening to a wonderful Star of the Week presentation.  Since we are now in spring and have had many Spring Break trips to the beach we decided what better topic to cover the week we get back from break than Under the Sea.  

We made marshmallow boats during STEM this week out of marshmallows and toothpicks as we worked to create flowing raft structures.  Then we used tongs to 'fish' animals out of water.

Later on we rescued baby crabs from blocks of ice using warm water and spoons before we played Sharks and Minnows outside to get some fresh spring air.

 We made our own aquariums out of paper plates and green tissue paper seaweed and small shells and fish with Cheerios for 'sand'.  It was a lot of fun to see the variety of aquariums at the end of the day.

 This week we also learned that different bodies of water often are different temperatures and animals other than fish swim in them around the world.  We watched polar bears swim and then became the bears as we donned blubber 'gloves' and put our hands in ice water to feel how a polar bear's blubber protect him in the icy water.

We used geometric shapes to create fish and frogs and butterflies that tend to inhabit warmer water and went fishing with our classroom fishing poles using magnets to catch fish.

 More science in action this week found us mixing colors and shaving cream to replicate the foam in the ocean before diving in to the mixtures to find the fish and other sea creatures 'swimming' below.  Once we did this together at the circle rug we moved to tables and wore rubber gloves to make our deep sea diving trickier to complete.

As if our week couldn't get any wetter we used even more tools this week to play in the water and try to pull out various items from make shift bodies of water.  

When the children would finish up these wet activities we worked on learning about tentacles by threading cereal circles through string on jellyfish.

Perhaps one of the most fun art projects we have done this year was making puffer fish that actually puffed when you blew through a straw attached to the bag.  The children made their fish expend and contract all day!

By Friday we were ready to try a new painting technique using shaving cream to create puffy painted fish! 

What's Coming Up?

• We still have open spots in our afternoon preschool next year and should have specific times to pass on to you by the end of this month.  Please feel free to share the Pirate Pete Preschool Website link with friends and family, all registration details are there.
  
• Next week we will be talking about Friends and Family but will only have preschool MONDAY AND FRIDAY since there is testing at the high school on Wednesday and regular classes will not be in session. 
  
• We may not have preschool Wednesday, April 10th but the Palatine High School Variety show will be taking place Thursday - Saturday and is always a great time!  See the Palatine High School Website for more details.
  
• Don't forget that Friday, April 19th is a non attendance day at school and we will not have preschool that day as well.
  
• Please remember to mark your calendar for Preschool Graduation on THURSDAY, May 16th.  This is the only day in the month of May we could get auditorium space which is why it is on a Thursday.  Please be sure to make the appropriate arrangements.  Details will be sent home soon.