Apples!

The touch and feel today was a VERY tempting sensory activity. It was full of apples!  Red apples, green apples, and even a few yellow apples!  This was a more adult led sensory time than usual.  We spent some time talking about how to treat the apples so that they don't bruise or bust.  There was even an apple with a bruise for the kids to feel and look at.  We talked about smelling the apples and describing what the apples looked like and what they felt like.  It was a learning time.....and a distraction for every kid that wanted so badly to taste the apples!  Someone even had a tiny taste while the teachers weren't looking!!

Ms. Michelle came today and brought some great new stuff!  We did a parachute activity where we partnered with friends and tried to bounce around bean bags.  As I picked up the bean bags for the 100th time I started to get the feeling that we hadn't fully explained the purpose!  I have to tell you that there is no finer sound than 7 boys laughing together! 

After that we moved on to a scooter board obstacle course.  Traveling on your stomach is not the fastest way to navigate, but it certainly gives you a good workout!  Ms. Michelle gave each child a colored ring to match around the course before they could head off to add a piece to the class puzzle.  This turned into a cheering activity....while everyone waited for a turn, they cheered on their classmates to finish the "race"!

The last activity Ms. Michelle had was a calming activity.  She had some buried treasures in a silky mixture of corn meal.  The kids had to dig in with their hands and see what was hidden.  There were cars and jewels and string and blocks.....every treasure was spectacular!!  The amazing part for the grown-ups was how quiet and attentive the children were the whole time their hands were in the corn meal.  It was like a sensory naptime!!

The book for today was Dappled Apples by Jan Carr.  It's a introduction book about all the things that happen in the fall including picking apples.  The kids enjoyed this story and even helped out as Ms. Graylyn read it.




Art today was painting.....with APPLES!  The kids loved it......I think they love anything messy!  The final product looks a little abstract and not quite as "applish" as it looks on the internet, but it was fun! 

Even though it was a messy day, the kids all went home knowing several new facts about apples.  New vocabulary like bruised and core.....apples grow on trees....apples have seeds.....apples turn brown if we leave them out in the air too long......there is LOTS to learn about apples!!