All A Glow in the Mirror Tent

I have had a black light that
I thought the children would enjoy for some time now, but the school has a lot of light, 

which is wonderful, but I have not found the right place to let the children explore with the black light

until now.  What a place it is, the mirror tent, so they get the chance to see themselves glowing, but also to see many images of themselves all a glow.

I covered both ends of the mirror tent with blankets and the children were invited in to take a look.

Many had to peek in to see what the others inside were giggling about.

The best is when they would smile and see their teeth glowing.

We discovered in this moment, that there was some maple cream left on his face from lunch, 

it was funny to discover it in the black light when we hadn't noticed it in natural light.

The mirror tent continues to be a fun place to explore and play.

An Eggtraordinaire Time

Last year we made egg geodes at school, which was a wonderful project for everyone involved, so of course this year we made them again.  If you would like the recipe for this project click on the link below:

Egg Geodes from 2012

One of the things I loved about last year's project was when we examined geodes and agate slices.

We took them out again this year to examine.  At first the children were holding them up to the light and looking at them. 

After we looked at them in natural light, the children then placed the geodes and agate slices 

on the light projector. 

They loved seeing them projected larger than life.

After we explored geodes we then went into art time and each child 

picked a color tablet.  They dropped them in water to see what mystery color 

they would be using for their egg geodes.

Once the color tablets were diluted in the water, the children added alum to the water.

The color tablets have vinegar and so when the alum was added the water stared to fizz, which was a fun surprise for the children.

 

 

The egg shells were placed in their alum and dye solution and left to sit for 2 days.

Once again they came out beautiful.

A Day with Many New Friends.

We had a special treat today, one of my students brought his 6 baby chicks to school!  We also had a visit from his younger brother, and my assistant's son, so we had a full and excited house.  Everything had a wonderful charge, and although there was more going on than our typical day, the energy in the school was that of pure Joy!

Brothers proud of their chicks.

They were on the move, so they are a bit of a blur, but very cute.

The red you see is from their heat lamp.

When the chicks first arrived they were quickly, and I am sure overwhelmingly loved by the children.  You can see the thrill as well as tenderness on the faces of the children in these picture.

    

  

After a little bit of excited adoration, I had the children leave the chicks for a little bit so they could adjust to their new surroundings.  Literally 5 minutes after all the children left the room, I went to check on them and they were all cuddled up in a pile and fast asleep.  I would be too after 11 preschoolers with untethered excitement and love came circling around me.

After that brief break from all the children being in the kitchen, the children on their own sort of establish a calm where they would drift in and out of the kitchen spending time with the chicks.  They were very respectful, giving the chicks their space and gently petting them.

Later during art time, they sat around the chicks with their clipboards and did observational drawings.  As you will see below, they did a wonderful job.

 

 The children began to hold their pictures up to each other and talk about what they were drawing, even some of the chicks looked interested in the drawings.

 They then decided to show the chicks their drawings.
I love how some of the chicks look like they are really looking at the drawings.

Here are some of their drawings

 J.P

                                                                                E.H.P.

E.M.

                                      T.M.                                                             J.P

M.N.

 "A Wing" -A.R.

 H.S.

E.P-B

I thought I would end the post with this picture, now if that isn't joy, I don't know what is!