Plants, Trees and Communication

We had a wonderful week with so much going on.

First off, we've been learning a lot about plants and trees in both the classrooms and the studio.  In 440 they've been using a democratic approach to name each of the plants they grew from cuttings.

In the studio we've been talking about root systems and how plants communicate beneath the soil.

We collaborated to create a forest of our own with root systems that can interconnect to simulate the understory beneath our feet (playfully termed the wood wide web).

On Friday we had an all school assembly to share some of what we've learned and to watch these two gorgeous and informative videos about seeds and tree-talk.  Click these links with your child to watch again, together:

A beautiful animated video called "Story of Flowers"

The Wood Wide Web: How Trees Secretly Talk to Each other

We even planted a tree that was dying in the studio. We know it won't likely make it through the changing weather but to give it a fighting chance the children came up with the great idea of surrounding it with ice to create a slow-melt, drip system.  Genius.

And that's just a little of what we were up to this week...

Here's a photo tease to share a little more:

 We made impromptu banana muffins with some over ripe's that were left over from snack. Yum!

 We've been getting messy and creating art with our shaving cream paints.

 The toddlers spent Friday in the studio making music and creating in a variety of medias.

We are always exploring ways to foster relationship and collaborations.  Our clear standing easel is a prime example.

I love this job!

For more reading click on this great article about cultivating children's love of nature by giving them opportunities to take risks and explore.

And this article exploring how nature sounds help you to relax.

I hope you enjoy the natural world outside your door and be sure to listen for the hidden song of trees all around you.

See you next week.

Narcissus Love

BJ, Bekke and I joined forces in the studio again this week.  

Bekke began the week with a retelling of the myth of Echo and Narcissus on Tuesday.  Her telling was funny, engaging and informative, as all her stories are.

On Thursday, BJ worked with the children to make and decorate heart cookies, providing a sweet reminder that Narcissus' preoccupation with external validation is not the same thing as self love. 

And we are all about self love!

To bring the story of Narcissus to life, the children drew their reflections in our mirror "ponds" on cardstock.

In lieu of narcissus blooms, I brought in some daffodils to inspire us.

It was another wonderful week in the studio!

The Sugar Cookie Recipe:

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup butter

2 t. vanilla extract

1 egg

3 c. flour

1 1/4 t. baking powder

1/4 t. salt

Combine flour, salt and baking powder and set aside.

Combine butter and sugar in a bowl and mix on medium until creamy.

Add eggs and vanilla.  Mix until combined.

Add flour mixture a little bit at a time, mixing with a wooden spoon until incorporated.

Cover dough and chill 4 hours or overnight

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Roll dough to 1/4" thickness an cut into desired.

Place cookies 1" apart on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake 6-9 minutes.

A Studio Glimpse of Our Week

What a fun time we have had this week playing in the studio!!!  The shaving cream paint was a big hit. It's easy to make at home too if you want to try it.  We are making ours with liquid water color and shaving cream but you can easily make a bathtub version using food coloring.

Of course mess-making and hand washing are a big part of the whole experience.

The pulleys on our tree house remain a huge attraction, captivating one child after another.
Children are always drawn to simple machines, perhaps even more so now as technology continues to take the place of visible mechanics in our daily lives.
Their ongoing interest reminds us to provide materials of this kind to foster an understanding of basic physics in creative ways..

Block building remains a big point of interest and some enterprising architect/engineers have begun to record their creations.

Self portraits and figure drawing has reemerged at the easel and the results are wonderful! 

Of course the children always find opportunities for dramatic play, individually and collaboratively.

To make the week even better, Amy joined us to create a smaller tree for the Artisan Center window display in April.

It's hard to believe that this was only a four day week!

Tree Celebrating

Tree celebration week was a HUGE success!

Bekke started the week off with a great tree story called, The Little Tree Who Wished For Something Else.

Vida began a KWL Chart with the children about Trees.  The first stage of the chart is "What do you know?"  

The children were eager to provide answers and the resulting poster is up in the 440 classroom.

I introduced shaving cream painting to the children and they spent a day painting trees.

And BJ joined me in the studio to create a delicious tree fruit salad alongside the children.

It was a ton of tree inspired FUN!