kansas has a birthday!

we took a loooooooong picture walk through the picture book version of little house on the prairie.

there are times when it doesn’t seem that i’ll be able to keep a group’s attention with reading a story, but picture walking through it seems to work.  maybe the drama of, “ooooooooo-look by the wagon!” or “how do you know it’s night?” or “how many girls do you see?”

then we looked at lincoln logs, real logs and used paper logs to make a house like way back when.  a favorite part for some was giving the cabin a trim when done.

complete with doors…some opened, some didn’t.  some were nearly as big as the cabin, some were tiny enough for a mouse.

with sharp knives and real lemons, we did some taste testing…here are the faces to prove it:

then graphs for who liked the lemon and who did not:

then painting with yellow liquid watercolor over white crayon on paper plates.  i attempted to scent the paint with lemon oil and lemon juice.  it did smell like lemon while wet, but not once dry.

i think i’ll go back to “lemonade” kool aid for scent.

this was simple and aromatherapeutic.  i added lavender oil to lavender paint (purple + white).

we looked at photos of lavender fields (amazing!) by passing my phone around since i forgot my computer.

we used these finger sponge paint things  (i tried to find them online to link over and can’t!) and made lavender flowers.

this paint plus the playdough with lavender oil made for a verrrrrrry relaxing room.

all six classes helped add stickers to these numerals.

they’ve been rearranged to make the number 20 or 301 or 12 or 32….good times.  and mind blowing, a abit.

and many, many times we’ve lined them up to show 2013.

in honor of what would have been dr. king’s 84th birthday, i share these thoughts with you.  these were collected during loud and chaotic brainstorming sessions with 25 preschoolers. during these sessions, some kids are on their bellies with me around the paper on the rug while others continue work time.  we’ll call out their names and listen really carefully to see if they have ideas to share. i really love those experiences.

the tender conversations around racism and the injustices that still exist give me hope. not included in the letter, but said at the end of the day by one friend:  if i ever hear people making fun of someone because of their skin, i know what to do now.

may we all be so brave.

we’re deep in “m is for martin” activities this week…more to come!