Thursday, October 22, 2009

Preschool joy.....or not?

This week has been a taxing week at preschool. Don't get me wrong....I LOVE the little children that come here every year. They are adorable and I would take any one of them and love them as my own ....if only their parents would let me! ;) This week, there was far too much Halloween excitement, not to mention an injury of a child that upset me greatly. I am exhausted. PHEW! Thank goodness for miracles (no broken bones, just bruising) and resting days. (that's what I call the days that we don't have preschool) I wanted to share this activity we did last week. We talk about how animals prepare for winter in all parts of the world. We talk about how birds fly south to warmer climates during the winter and how lucky WE are to have all those birds come and vacation with us here in Arizona. We made a pine cone bird feeder. This was the funnest (and stickiest) project for the kiddos! I mix up about a cup of Karo syrup or honey (with a little water added just to make it a little runnier) with a cup of birdseed. The kids push the mixture into the pine cone with a plastic spoon. The spoon is usually forgotten when the children figure out how "cool" it feels to push it in with their hands. :) We added a piece of yarn for hanging after it dried. This is Emma and her creation! When the honey or Karo syrup dries it is so shiny. The birds devour these sorts of treats! (**a funny side note.....A few days after completing this project, I discovered green things growing up from the drain in the preschool bathroom sink....it took me a minute to figure out what it was, but then I remembered how much birdseed I washed off of little fingers and hands that day!) There truly is never a dull moment! :)

6 comments:

Something Nice and Pretty said...

How sweet Joann...love her little face! I love feeding the birds here but the squirrels wreck everything.
Rondell

Janene said...

How fun!
I remember doing this in school...except we used peanut butter.
I just wonder what plant was growing in the drain????
Have a great weekend!

familywithfivekids said...

I wish I had a preschooler you could teach!!! You are amazing - keep it up!

Simple Home said...

I just discovered your blog (I'm new to blogging) and it's great. My kids have made these too. I'm also a desert dweller (not by choice) but we're in the high desert of California, so we get some cold weather during the winter. We had over a foot of snow last December, all in one day. That doesn't happen often though, at least not that much.
I'll be checking back soon.
Blessings,
Marcia

Sara Adams said...

I just wanted to tell you, how much Kyra loves going to preschool every single day! Thank you for takeing such good care of my little girl!!

TrishAnderson said...

That is a funny story about the bird seed. I didn't hear of any injuries. What happened? Bailey sure loves coming and I enjoy dropping her off mcuh more now that a certain someone is quite a bit more cheerful as well.