Butterfly Release!!

Our caterpillars have come out of their cocoons and were ready to be released.  The Butterfly class let a few go on Wednesday--it was so cool we had to coax the Butterflies out with oranges!  The Caterpillar class watched the release of the rest on Thursday.  It was much warmer and the Butterflies took off!!

Friday the Butterfly class headed to the recycling center to learn more about some of our local community helpers!

Fun with Community Helpers

Fun with Community Helpers.  What an exciting past two weeks.  We had a visit from a police officer.  The Butterflies went to the Bella Vista Recycling Center.  We read lots of books on Community Helpers.  We also released five Painted Lady butterflies into the big world.

Butterflies and Officer Deason

Caterpillars and Officer Deason

Bye Bye Butterfly

Fun at the Bella Vista Recycling Center

Community Helpers week 1

Focus was on policemen as Community Helpers this first week of the unit.  Each class had a visit from an officer who spoke and answered questions in the classroom, then allowed the students to inspect his vehicle.  Handcuffs are heavy, and our 3-5 year old wrists can slip right out of them!  We appreciated it when we had time to cover our ears before hearing the siren.

The Community Helpers unit continues the week of April 22 with plans for other classroom visitors.

Fun with Color!!

 April Fun Friday brought Mrs. Melanie back to the classroom--this time with some color experiments!!  During Circle time we looked at mixing the primary colors to make the secondary colors.  Then we discovered what happened when we mixed a secondary color with one if its primary colors and what happens when we mix opposite colors from the color wheel.  At the end we were surprised to discover that mixing them all together made the same color as mixing all three primary colors--Black!!

At centers, the Butterflies all had the opportunity to make a color wheel or experiment with mixing colors their own way.  Painting is fun no matter how you mix it!!

 For snack time we celebrated Anthony's 5th Birthday with Angry Birds snacks.  Happy Birthday Anthony!!

Spring visitors

We have company in our classroom.  Mrs. Schaefer invited 5 caterpillars to come stay with us while they grow.  We will watch them make their cocoons, and when they are finished changing, we will have butterflies in our Butterfly House.  The caterpillars are growing very quickly, each day Mrs. Lewis has drawn one on the calendar so we can keep track.  The weblike strings in the container are what the caterpillars make while they are growing - practice for the cocoon stage.

Insects and rain

Insect week coincided with several rainy days, but BVPS children are flexible.  Several projects were completed, including 'hand bugs', playdoh, and a secret creation for the volunteer luncheon.

Mrs. Lewis noted that each of the Caterpillar students successfully found their own nametag when she taught on Thursday.  Won't be long before they are Butterflies!

Shhhh, don't let a volunteer see us working...