SHELL EXPLORATION

During the first week of April, I went on vacation in Florida and was able to bring back an abundance of exotic seashells.  I had decided to focus on Nature Materials during April and this fit in beautifully.  I laid out shells on trays with magnifying glasses and also included a book about shells.  The conversation that was inspired was amazing.  The children started their observations and immediately started commenting on the different types of shells, the different colors and sizes of the shells, and of course, how they could hear the ocean in the shells.    

Some of their words..."Some are prickly".  "Some are smooth".  "I noticed something, this one has stripes, and this one has stripes"!!  "Look, it has purple inside this one".  "Some have holes in them".  "Some are bumpy".  "Hey, I think I see water inside this".  "Oh it must be the sea you are listening to".  "No, I 'm looking, I see puddles".  

More words..."Something big would've had to live inside"!  "You can see these little dirt spots from the ocean".  "You might see a little rainbow if you do this" (put magnifying glass close to your face).

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Here is a child trying to match the shells on his tray to shells in the book.

I continued to support the children by offering paper and pencils so they could trace shells, write about shells, and document what they saw.  

SUNFLOWER OBSERVATION AND ART STUDY

I am so thankful for our farm share.  Look what we got to bring back to preschool from the flower garden!  These two giant sunflowers spent a week in the classroom so we could investigate, observe, and make sunflower drawings.  Eventually, we brought them outside to pick out some of the seeds.  The chipmunks, squirrels, and birds in our yard were grateful to us and took many of the seeds as well.  

I offered yellow, green, brown, and black crayons for this activity.  Each child really put their full concentration into drawing what they saw.  The pictures are fabulous!!