Parts of the Pumpkin

To go along with the parts of the pumpkin 3 part cards, I always try to dissect a pumpkin at group time. The children enjoy matching the parts they are exploring to the cards. This is also a great time to separate out the seeds for roasting (or to save to make works with)!

Strawberry Hulling

This is a great tool I found at a kitchen store. It works quite well! This work was set up to hull the strawberries and then save them in the fridge to make jam (which we later did). You could also set it up for the snack table or for them to eat a couple strawberries after they hulled them.

Seahawks!!!!

With the hype of the 12th man being such a huge piece of the Seattle culture, of course I had to add a bit of that to the classroom. Our school had many children who come to school all dressed up for "Blue Fridays" and we had many fans. A couple of simple blue and green works have been very fun!

September practical life

A variety of Apple themed practical life activities for the beginning of the year!

September Science shelf

Like many teachers, I like to have an apple theme at the beginning of the year. It is something simple and that the kids are familiar with.. It also adds some ideas for art, songs, practical life, etc.

The Thanksgiving Story

This is a felt play I present each year in the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving. We tell a simple version of the history of the Thanksgiving holiday minus of any violence. We discuss the continents leading up to this to so the children understand that the children made quite the voyage across the ocean! We start the story with grumpy old King James who lived on the continent of Europe and that he was very bossy and wanted all the people to do as he liked, believe in his God, and live as he did. The people did not like this and heard about the "New Land" across the ocean. They built two ships-the Mayflower and the Speedwell. They loaded the ships with supplies and things to trade with the natives of the new land. They heard they liked colorful fabric, shiny things such as mirrors, beads, and tools. They wanted to offer them gifts as they were coming to their land. As the ships set off the speedwell quickly sunk and all the speedwell passengers got on the Mayflower. There were 102 passengers on the Mayflower. It was a rough voyage and many people got sick and/or died. It took 3 months to get across the ocean to North America. The passengers were hungry and cold. Once a week they'd make a big pot of soup over the fire and that was comforting. Other than that they ate dried meat and hard bread. Something very special happened on the boat- a baby was born to the Hopkins family! This made everyone so happy! Finally they saw land and yelled "Land HO!!" The men got off the boat first. They saw no one and got straight to work. They built a cabin. It was small and crowed but it was shelter. It was a hard winter without a lot of food. Many more people died. Then spring came, and a Native American named Squanto knocked on their door. Squanto told them that he'd seen them struggling through the winter and he wanted to show them how to live on the land. He showed them how to harvest apples, pumpkins, and how to plant corn by putting dead fish on the corn seeds. The Pilgrims were so thankful to be thriving in this new land and so thankful to Squanto and his Native American friends for showing them how to live on the land and sharing their knowledge. They decided to have a big celebration to show how thankful they were and invited their Native American neighbors. The part lasted for 3 days! They played games, shared stories, and ate a lot of food! Turkey, corn, butter, bread, cranberries, potatoes, and more! That was the first Thanksgiving! Thank you to my friend Tracy who I interned under for sharing this with me! It's something I've done every year since 1999 This is her lovely school ! This book is also a reference I use

Turkey Feathers Felt Play

This is sung to Frere Jacques 'Turkey feathers, turkey feathers Brightly colored brightly colored Who has a red one, who has a red one? Add it now. When each child's color is called, they bring it up and put it on the turkey. I then put a smaller version of this on the shelf for two children to do this at a time during the work period.

Thankful Turkey

In the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving, we discuss what we're thankful for and this is many things! After the first few discussions, I ask them each individually what they are most thankful for and we write it on our Thankful Turkey to display in the classroom.

Wetland Unit

Wetland sensory bin

The Five Senses

A simple work to teach and review the five senses