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What a great day it was to celebrate a birthday! We began our day with calendar, weather, and our sunflower and bubble circle time rhymes, then launched right into making birthday cake/cookie bars. This time we decided that a pumpkin recipe sounded super yummy. After we examined the ingredients, the birthday boy got to add sugar to the flour...
... and stir it well.
Next came the baking soda, baking powder, and salt...
After that the children added cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves...
... and did some great stirring! Last came the pumpkin, eggs, and oil. I made sure everything was mixed well and popped the mixture into the oven. It wasn't much later that the daycare was filled with the delicious aroma of baking. Our tummies growled, but we perservered.
We had a wonderful time doing some pretend play about dogs and their owners. Our newest little was mostly happy to watch from the sidelines...
... but he had fun playing with the "dog treats," which were really rocks. They are heavy and have a variety of textures, sizes, colors, and weights for him to learn about.
I had fun being in the midst of our play and letting the children direct the "script" for this pretend session. Through the session, we ran into some problems ( I was a dog with a hurt paw), and the children worked together to figure out a solution (they called over a fairy who used magic to heal my paw), two dogs wanted to play with the same toy (the children found another similar item for the second dog), and the children had the chance to feel empowered as they told me what to do (sit! stay! roll over! come here!) The children also enjoyed dressing up to enhance their pretend play.
After all the dress-up clothes were put away, we got ready to use crayons. One child worked with me on proper grip...
... another worked on writing her name...
... and the rest had lots of fun creating whatever their imagination came up with.
Just before lunch we had a few moments to look at our Monarch butterfly caterpillars. We were surprised to see that our caterpillars looked a bit different for they shed their skins. The caterpillars will shed their skin several times, changing appearance as they grow from first to fifth instar.
In the afternoon, we had the chance to celebrate the birthday boy! He was super excited to blow out the candles (so much so I missed him blowing out the first one!).
Everyone agreed that the cake was delicious.
When the birthday celebration was over, the older children and I read a chapter from Alice in Wonderland and the smaller children and I read some Sandra Boynton stories.
See you tomorrow!