Alpine Children's House: 01/2012

Tuesday

31 January

Painting with

Blue and Red

H. enjoys filling the boxes

I found these small, assorted, cardboard boxes at AC Moore for a few dollars. Today the trucks got put aside as the children eagerly explored which items in the sensory table could fit into these dear little boxes, and how the tops fit onto the bottoms.

B. enjoys matching the lids to the boxes

Ring-Around-The-Rosy with Baby and Monkey

Breakfast:

Raisin Toast with Cream Cheese

Green Juice

Lunch:

Freekeh

Mashed Potatoes and Celeriac

Roasted Carrots and Beets

Green Beans

Whole Cow Milk

Snack:

Black Bean Brownies

Orange Slices

Recipe for

Black Bean Brownies

Ingredients:

1 and 3/4 cup well cooked black beans

3 Eggs

3/4 cup sweetener

3 tbsp vegetable oil

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1/4 tsp baking powder

1 1/4 tsp vanilla extract

zest from one orange (opt)

pinch of salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. Combine all ingredient in a blender

until smooth

3. Pour mixture into greased 8x8 baking dish

4. Bake for about 30 minutes, until top starts to look dry and crack

Sunny January Picnic

Thursday

26 January

Practically the whole morning work time today was spent folding laundry. Children are masters at taking something simple like a pile of towels and making up endless ways to use and play with them.

Making pancakes and mixing colors in the kitchen

Then for a walk in the woods

Breakfast:

Pancakes
(with coconut, buckwheat, and chia)

Blueberries

Green Apple Juice (with Kale)

Lunch:

Sprouted Whole Grain Emmer

Roasted Butternut Squash

Steamed Broccoli

Pan Fried Tempeh

Snack:

Tofu Kan

Cucumber slices

Popcorn

Wednesday

25 January

The children have been enjoying starting the day with a couple stories and this morning they chose The Lorax by Dr Seuss. I gladly read it (with minimal commentary) in hopes of inspiring these children to become tree-hugging protectors of the earth.

Then settling into work time....

Crayon rubbing textures and flat shapes


Shaping and making balls out of play-dough


Imaginary play at the sensory table with construction vehicles

The children were more eager to participate in morning circle today, after taking a couple days off from them.

We sang about the days of the week and the months of the year. We stretched and made animals poses: crab, elephant and dinosaur. We sang Looby-Loo, dancing in a circle, and shaking out our bodies. Our favorite part to shake shake shake is our bottoms. Thanks to Kristin Sharkey for teaching me this song when we worked together at Ithaca Montessori School.

"Here we go Looby Loo

Here we go Looby Lie

Here we go Looby Loo

All on a Saturday night

We put our (body part) in

We put our (body part) out

We give our (body part) a

Shake Shake Shake,

and turn ourselves about. "

Yesterday, one of the children came in smelling slightly of skunk, since one sprayed outside their house the night before. That got us all talking about skunks, and singing The Skunk Song. The children were asking me to sing it a lot today. Its an old Camp Kum-Bah-Yah classic.

Here it goes:

"Wellllllllll I stuck my head

in a little skunk's hole

and the little skunk said

'well bless my soul,

take it out (take it out)

Remooooove it.'

Welllllllll I didnt take it out

and the little skunk said

'if you dont take it out,

you'll wish you had

take it out (take it out)