Today was beautiful. We spent a large part of the day outside on the deck. The children enjoyed being able to go back and forth threw the open door, choosing where they wanted to be. On the deck we had a sheet creating additional shade. It is much lower than the sail which covers most of the deck. They were laughing and touching it with toys. The tallest children discovered they could touch the sheet with their hand and they spent a lot of time pulling it down. Later when we went back outside, the children were using the oballs a lot, as well as the other popper like toys. They were carrying them inside and out and pushing them up and down the deck.

The children had a wonderful time playing with the telephones this morning. They were out on the table and the children rushed over and were spinning the dials for quite a while. Then we went outside and they were using the new bikes and some of the cars. One child sat in a car the entire time they were outside. Then they saw the shovels. Several of them spent a long time with this. They were scooping rocks and dirt from the flower boxes. It was great!

 Two children showed us the helicopters they made, so we took out the iPad to look at pictures of other helicopters.  We compared what they made to the pictures and labelled some of the parts.  When we looked at a red and white helicopter, one child said it was a Christmas helicopter because Santa flies it.  We looked at pictures of rescue helicopters and talked about the nets hanging with supplies in them.  When we saw the police helicopter, a child asked if it carries guns.  We weren't sure about the answer.  Then we looked at airplanes and airports.  After that we decided to make airplanes, so we got some papertowel tubes.  One child wanted to make propellers for his airplane so they were cut from paper for him and he used glue to attach them.  Another child made her own wings and decorated her plane.  One child wanted two tubes taped together and then looked though them like binoculars.  Other children wanted binoculars too, so we made some more.  We read Angela's Airplane this morning to go along with the activity we had done earlier.  They shared that some of them had been on an airplane before and some had not.  Next we read Pig's Can't Fly and then talked about what animals can fly.  

Today we had a fabulous time in the sandbox with planters, plant pots and scoops. We filled up the pots and the planter with sand then looked around to find something to put in it. One child put a leaf and another put rocks inside. They carried the planters over to the wooden planters on the playground and added some mud. This afternoon we will get out the watering cans and fill them with water to help them grow. We used crayons and paper too, two children were making 'puppies' then they decided they were going to be 'pigs' instead. Both children began snorting and giggling together. This afternoon we will be bringing books outside to enjoy.

Well everyone is excitedly talking about graduation and family fun day, they are especially excited about the big bouncy castles.  The children were busy building with the straw connectors again today they were making rocket ships and houses. We have had a robins nest in a tree on the back playground and we found this morning the the eggs had hatched and there are three baby birds inside, the children are very careful around them and are so excited to watch them grow.  We put the picture of the babies on our facebook page!   They are so beautiful! 

Today we have some exciting news to share.  The eggs we have been watching in the nest on the back playground have finally hatched!  Jackie took a small group of children out on the back playground when we came over to Red Room this morning to check on the nest.  When they went out the children got to see the mother bird in the nest.  Then the mother bird flew to the fence, and the children got to see what was in the nest, three baby chicks!  Jackie took pictures of the babies and took different children on a walk to spread the news of the chicks hatching.  The rest of the children will get to observe the chicks when we go out on the back playground this afternoon.