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April has been shaping up nicely and now that it's nearing its end, the sunny days have been just wonderful for us to take full advantage of our time outdoors!
After breakfast, we enjoyed a short pretend play session with the farm animals. The littles are getter better and better at identifying each animal and its noise, and I love to see the progress they are making in their language development.
Next, the children and I enjoyed music time. We focused on "I'm a Little Teapot," and "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" fingerplays, then reinforced our animal names and noises as we sang "Old McDonald," and our version of Laurie Berkner's "I Love My Rooster," and sharpened our recall as we sang "I Know an Old Woman Who Swallowed a Fly."
After snack, we headed to the nearby park. At first, I encouraged the children to climb the stairs and ladders and use the slides.
When the "happy to be at the park" jitters subsided, the children settled down to do some deeper play. One child had lots of fun investigating the tubes.
Another child loved making "dirt ice cream" and "dirt pies."
A third grabbed a bucket and pretended to collect Easter eggs.
The children's play tends to be cyclical, and after a period of quieter play, the loud and energetic games began anew. The big kids played a game of "cross the bridge" on the vertical ladder.
Meanwhile, the littles worked hard at digging in the sand.
The big kids came over to say "hi" to the littles, but not for long because...
...the littles spotted a bird and were enthusiastically shouting "bird!!!" and pointing to a wary robin.
Near the end of our stay at the park, the big kids picked as many dandelions as they could to bring home. Their bouquets became larger and larger as we stopped to pick flowers growing near the sidewalk on the way home.
By the time we got home, the big kids had collected nearly a bucketful of dandelions! Wow!
Later in the day we read Lost in the Woods, then we headed back outside for even more fresh air. The children and I had a fun time drawing with sidewalk chalk and using scooters, bicycles, and practicing safe walking on the sidewalk.
See you tomorrow!