We used yellow leaves and hula hoops as frames to make some collaborative land art this week. We made the sun, crescent moon, full moon, and a star.

We mixed up our own slime with clear glue, liquid starch and tempera paint. The stretchy slime inspired a lot of investigative and imaginative sensory play at the mud kitchen throughout the week. As the leaves fall they become part of our play. We had a leaf party, leaf slide, and played Leaf Monster We also built a fort with pine branches, a tire, and some of our moveable see-saw pieces.

This week we noticed that we did a lot of climbing, every day. Climbing is such a great activity because we use our whole body as we strengthen muscles and practice balance and grip. Climbing also has many cognitive benefits as we are always planning and strategizing our next move, and doing our own risk assessment. How can I get to that next branch? How will I get back down? How high up do I feel comfortable? We have ample opportunities for climbing at all skill levels,

This week we made campfire bread with apple butter, it was a big hit! Here's the recipe we used: 2.5 cups flour 4 tsp baking powder 1 tsp salt 6 tsp oil 1 cup water -Mix dry ingredients. Then mix in the oil. Slowly add the water while stirring. Only add enough water to hold the dough together, you might not use the whole cup. It's ready when combined and not very sticky. Let rest 20-30 minutes. Shape into balls, pancakes, or any shape, then fry in a cast iron pan with o

We played a game called Leaf Monster. Someone gets buried in a piles of leaves, then we wait for the leaf monster to emerge and chase us. We went on a mushroom walk and found many puffballs and chanterelles. We pressed on the puffballs and watched a green cloud of spore dust shoot out. We painted creek rocks with paint pens and made more creations with playdough, yarn, and acorns. We spent some time drawing in our journals and dictating stories on Thursday. Then we shared

We've been busy making lots of things with scrap wood, hammer and nails, yarn, paint, and glue. One of those things that everyone helped with was a Fairy Mailbox. Bubbling potions, playing music, obstacle courses, canoe rides, drawing in journals, and searching for crawdads in the creek! Adelaide shared a book she made about her weekend with Gourdy, the Fairywood Gourd.

Tuesday we did a "Tour of the Trees." Each person chose their own tree by leaving their bandana at the base of the tree, and then we took turns leading the whole class to our tree. We talked about why they chose their particular tree, and looked at the leaves, nuts, bark, animal signs, and any other special characteristics. We chose quite a variety of trees including beech, sycamore, witch hazel, white oak, shagbark hickory, sassafrass, sugar maple, poplar, and cherry. The