Treasures in the Sand Table

The littles have been enjoying several "treasures" in the sand table recently.  First off, we added some pinecones that we found several weeks ago on a nature walk.  Then, I added some colored plastic leaves and apples that I bought at Michael's craft store.  They are small and easily buried.  They LOVE to hide these and dig them up again.  Finally, this week I added some mini-pumpkins and gourds.  Pretty much total awesome-sauce to the littles!  They are playing at the sand table like CRAZY every day!!

Leaf Stringing

Today's post is about a simple little fine motor activity that I put together for the littles to go with our tree unit.  I have used this activity previously (a different one, but similar) in my Montessori classroom several years ago.

To make this activity, you will need a package of silk leaves (these can be found almost anywhere this time of year, even the dollar store), a ribbon with buttons attached to each end, and a container for storing the materials.  I found an adorable felt bucket with felt leaves on it at the Target Dollar Spot.

Sewing a button on each end of the ribbon prevents the leaves from slipping off and also helps provide something more sturdy to poke the ribbon through.  You will need to cut a small slit into each leaf.  The second photo shows this.

To do this activity, the littles simply string all the leaves on the ribbon.  It is a great activity for using their fine motor skills such as pincer grasp and working with both hands together.

Painting with trees!!

One of the suggested projects in the Creative Curriculum Trees unit is using tree parts as painting props.  I found some sprigs of evergreen on a tree near our school and broke them off.  To make them easier to manipulate for painting, I attached clothespins to the end of them for the children to hold onto.  I also provided each child a paper plate with white tempera paint.  They then used the evergreen sprigs as brushes to paint on colored construction paper.  The end result was really pretty, and different for every child.  As you can see in the photos below, we use vinyl floor tiles under our art projects.  This serves to not only keep our tables clean, but also defines the "work space" for each child.  I got my tiles by putting a request on Facebook for free tiles.  This is a great way to get the things you need for your classroom.  Social media has its benefits.

In hindsight, the only thing I would do differently with this activity is tape the papers down on the tiles OR use smaller sprigs of evergreen.  The huge sprigs I found were so big they kind of made the paper slide around when the kids tried to paint.  It still worked okay, but would have been even better if the paper were stabilized.

How Ralph Waldo Emerson (the snail) got his name

So, in yesterday's post, I told all about how we came to have a snail as our classroom pet.  Truly, snails are the perfect pet.  They are small, easy to care for, not loud, not stinky, fascinating to watch......the list goes on and on.  

Anyway, as I indicated last time, Speedy Jones Turbo, our classroom snail has some FRIENDS!!!  Yes, we now have 3 garden snails as pets in our classroom.  Prior to the two new additions, we had discussed the necessity of acquiring another snail, perhaps as a "back-up" snail in case Speedy (ahem) didn't make it.  The weekend after this discussion took place, Mrs. DeNier and one of the first grade teachers in my building, Mr. McKean, both scoured their yards for snails to bring to school, with no luck whatsoever.  I, on the other hand, did not look for snails in my yard AT ALL (even though I live on almost 2 acres and have plenty of room to search).  When I walked out to my garage that Monday morning to leave for work, I saw a snail on the outside of the garage, stuck to the wall.  I went inside to get a Dixie cup to transport it to school.   On my way inside, I saw ANOTHER snail on the sidewalk.  This was quite remarkable since I have lived in my current home for 11 years and cannot recall EVER seeing snails just hanging around. 

So, I drove to work that day with two little Dixie cups full of snail in the cup-holders of my van.  One of the snails crawled to the top of the cup during the drive and perched itself right on the rim of the cup, making me quite nervous about losing him in the van on the way to school.  Luckily, I was able to nudge him gently back into the cup and transport him safely into the snail habitat in our classroom.

Naturally, the littles were MAJORLY excited to come to school on Monday and find out that we had acquired two new snails.   We did not hurry to name the new snails for some reason.  However, we did find some snail coloring pages that I put out at the art center for coloring.  One afternoon, Miss Moritz decided to sit with the littles and color her own snail.  Being a precise and meticulous artist, she took her time and created a beautiful snail to hang on our small classroom refrigerator.  She decided to name her snail, Ralph, which she wrote at the bottom of her paper.  She then asked Mrs. DeNier what Ralph's middle name should be.  Mrs. DeNier randomly suggested "Waldo", thinking of "Where's Waldo?".  As they went to tape the snail picture on the refrigerator, they noticed that the brand name of the refrigerator (which was conveniently and serendipitously located to the RIGHT of the taped-up snail picture) was EMERSON.  It quickly dawned on them that this was a SIGN that one of our newest snails should be named, Ralph Waldo Emerson. 

News of Ralph and his name spread throughout the land school.  (Okay, that is a bit of an exaggeration.  I think just Mr.  McKean was told of Ralph during his lunchroom duty.)  Within the day, Mr. McKean came to me with a "Ralph Waldo Emerson" quote in honor of the newest snail.  I promised to include this quote in my blog post.  Fortunately, the quote is actually a perfect one to include in a post that relates to young children.  

"To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment."

Ralph Waldo Emerson

This quote is ideal for young children because it truly reflects their complete and utter lack of pretense.  They just are who they are.  They make no effort to disguise their thoughts and feelings.  For this reason, it is very refreshing to be around littles.  They demonstrate the ability to be true to oneself on a daily basis.  I love it.

Our other snail has been named Carlo Spiderman which is a combination of two names suggested by the littles.  I guess his last name is Snail.  We didn't get past Carlo Spiderman for some reason.  

 

Below on the top left you can see the snail picture that was the inspiration for Ralph Waldo Emerson's name.

Speedy Jones Turbo (& Friends)

Our school district has a "no fur or feathers" policy when it comes to classroom pets, or even visiting animals.  While I understand the rationale behind this policy, it does limit the options we have for bringing live animals into the classroom.  

Recently, our class took a field trip to a local forest.  While on a nature walk, our guide noticed a leaf on the ground that had a shiny line across it.  She stopped and pointed this out to the children, telling them that this meant a snail had left a trail on the leaf and that a snail must be nearby.  She challenged them to look carefully for the snail near the trail.  I admit, I was skeptical that we would find a snail.  However, Mrs. DeNier, one of my assistants, found a snail!!  The children were able to get a close look at the snail (although it was holed up in its shell the whole time).  We decided to bring the snail back to school with us and make it our classroom pet.  

A funny side-story is that I held the snail in my hand all the way back to school on the bus.  I have now earned the nickname "The Snail Whisperer" because the snail bravely came out of its shell in my hand and was absolutely fascinating to watch on the ride back to school.

Once back at school, the snail was placed in a temporary home until more suitable housing could be found.  Additionally, research was done as to how best to care for a snail pet.  It turns out that a container with a bit of soil, a shallow dish of water, and some bark or pinecones for shelter is pretty much all that is needed.  We also learned that garden snails can live 10 to 15 years in captivity.  So, the joke now is that the snail will be with me for the next decade or so. 

Of course a classroom pet needs a name.  On the way back to school, our bus driver suggested "Speedy".  Later, in a class discussion, the name "Turbo" was also suggested.  So........we initially decided the snail would be called, "Speedy Joe Turbo".  However, one of the littles kept saying, "Speedy JONES Turbo" which we liked better.  So, Speedy Jones Turbo it is.  

Below you can see the beautiful habitat we created for Speedy complete with a "foresty" backdrop (more about that in a future post) and a custom made name sign.  In the photo the brown blog you can see on the cucumber slice is Speedy.  

Miss Moritz, my other classroom assistant, has decided that I could moonlight as a snail photographer.  Perhaps this is because I spent about 20 minutes (or more) on a recent Saturday trying to take an amazing photograph of Speedy.  One of my best "shots" is shown below.  I have gotten even better since that one was taken though.  ;-)

If you are paying close attention, you will notice that the title of this post indicates that Speedy has "friends".  I have decided to make that the topic of a future post which will show up later this week.  Suffice it to say that we are a bit snail-crazy around here.  SNAILS ARE AWESOME!!!!!!!