Mud and Worms - Preschool B

Seriously!  How many times can I crash my photo collage software?  Oiy!  There are so many cute pictures I want to share with you.  I'm sorry it has taken me so long, I had to walk away.

Anyway, mud and worms was so much fun with the 4 year old class.  There was no hesitation to jump in and get muddy or immediately start a mud kitchen.  I had to prompt the 3 year old class to make mud pies, but these guys just got started.  

There is hardly any explanation necessary from this point on...

 This was really cool - we found a piece of dirt that had some well preserved worm holes that we were able to investigate.  Since the morning class had already picked out most of the worms from the swimming pool we soaked some out of the ground by the chicken coop and were able to watch the water circling around and down a few worm holes like drains.

This kind of hands on learning is my favorite.  It makes much more sense when you can get in and get dirty with a concept.  Yay for fun and messy learning!

Mud and Worms - Preschool A

After sorting through 300 pictures and then crashing my photo collage software, I finally have the photos to share from Mud and Worms day.  This is one of my favorite days of school.  I shovel some dirt from the garden into a swimming pool.  Then we search for all the worms we can find in it.

 We read about worms and learn about their characteristics and how they help the earth.  And then we feed the worms to the chickens or put them in a safe home in the garden.

 Then, with the aid of another pool of water, I turn the kids loose to explore...

 There is a lot of working together, playing, and finding even more worms.

 I love the mud kitchens that pop up and the different items kids decide to make.  Today in class they were making cinnamon pancakes (the very large mud mess on the table is the over-sized pancake).

 Eventually, we get all sorts of muddy and parents get to come shower off their own kiddos at the end of the day.  I hook my hose up to my shower so it's a warm shower off - that helps keep the worn out kiddos from falling apart.   It's such a fantastic day!

Rain, Rainbows, Mud and Worms in Tot School

We had such a fun day in tot school this week!  We love talking about rain, rainbows, mud and worms.  We sang the song, "Herman the Worm" from the tot pack over and over.  They thought it was hilarious. 

We read a bunch of books and then pulled out the compost worms at the kitchen table. Next, we headed outside to find the mud kitchen ready to be worked in. 

 There was so much "work" going on.  They were stirring and pouring and scooping and playing in the mud and water.  Last year a few kids spent the day over at the playhouse.  I don't think anyone made it that far into the yard this year, they were too excited about all the work to be done with the mud.

What a great day of learning and hard work!

Mud and Worms in Preschool

We started our preschool day reading oodles of books about worms.  We talked about how they are important for the Earth and how to handle them.  We talked about their body parts, how they move and what they eat.  Then we opened up the worm compost bin and investigated the worms in there.  Outside we dumped a couple pitchers of water on the ground and up came a big fat worm!  CJ held it up for everyone to investigate. 

Then we were free to play in the mud.  We started off with a pool of clean water and a pool of dirt.  We also had our play kitchen tools available.  There was oodles of fun to be had with the self designated "work" of making mud.  There was an amount of transferring dirt and water from pool to pool.

 In the end this is about what we looked like.  Boy it was fun!

Be sure to check Facebook Wednesday morning for another quick giveaway!

Tot School Thursday - Mud and Worms

Mud and Worms day is always so much fun.  We also learn about rain and rainbows on this day and get to do a few fun activities with colors.  I love this small motor skills game that we played when everyone arrived.  I put circle stickers in different colors on a container and then drilled a hole through the middle.  Kids put short pipe cleaners through the holes that matched the pipe cleaner color.  It was so fun and easy!

 We also were worms crawling through the tunnel.

 They are all getting really good at starting a "group story time" idea.  They each get to sit on a green spot and participate in the reading.  They are growing up!

 Snack time!

 Next we got to look at the compost worms that our my families "pets" :).

 Outside we went to find the mud and the water.   This class seemed to love the water the most.

 The rest of the pictures really speak for themselves :)