Bugs & Crawly Things - Hills & Spider Webs

On Day 8 we were learning about hills.  For week 2 of this theme we are learning about bug homes and ants live in a hill.

We made these super cute ant hills for the craft that had a hole at the top and one at the bottom.  We put the yarn through each hole and tied in the back and stuck an ant to the yarn.  As you pulled it up and down the ant moved to the top of the hill and then to the bottom.  I didn't get a picture of the craft but I did get a picture of what was left over because I thought it was kind of funny.

What does a paper plate, cotton swab, glue and sand have in common?

When we were done with our Anthill Art I took the paper plate and it's contents with me to throw away.  Along the way my attention got pulled somewhere else and I set it down.  I came across it a little while later and just chuckled.  I thought to my self "only with Mother Goose Time would I find this combination of things just lying around my house."

The next part of the day about hills was to build a hill with our foam rectangle pieces for the activity called Tall Hills.  First they had to build one as big as they could.  It was a little tricky outside in the wind.  The foam pieces kept blowing away.  So you can see Joy trying to block the wind.

It was a good thing Joy was here because they had to count how many rectangles they used next and Lachlan can't count that high yet.  They used 41 rectangles. 

Next I had them build a hill with only 19 rectangles and I asked if it was bigger or smaller then their other hill.

I had Lachlan place the hands-on number 19 on the counting board. 

Here is there hill of only 19, still trying to protect it from the wind.

On Day 9 we learned all about spider webs.

First we made our own Spider Web Art.  Mother Goose Time provided us with these awesome cardboard rings with notches around the outside.  We took our piece of yarn and weaved it back and forth to make a web.  I thought this would be a synch for the boys but it turned out to be more challenging for them then I thought.  So I ended up doing the weaving while asking them where to put it each time.

 This is Peter giving it a try.

 Sticking his plastic spider on the web which was also provided in the supplies.

 Later I was able to make one with Lachlan and here are their finished products.

Also included in today's lesson was our monthly pattern.  This one being a bug pattern of course.  This was Peter working on this one, he did this all by himself with out even skipping a beat.  The first three were the only ones on the card, he added the rest. 

For this pattern activity there are 3 skills listed: Patterns and Sorting 18.1, Fine Motor 5.1 & Self Direction 2.3.

For patterns and sorting 18.1 I would put Peter at Benchmark E which states: Creates and extends three and four step patterns and plays complex memory games.  Benchmark D says that they can recreate two step patterns.  Peter can do patterns more challenging than that, so he is definitely above that benchmark.  Benchmark F says that they can determine the missing piece of a pattern and they can recognize simple patterns in the environment.  I am not sure if Peter can do that.  So I might have to try those two things out on him. It wouldn't surprise me if he could, he has always been good at memory games and patterns.  But for now I comfortably put him at Benchmark E.   

The last thing we did was for the Sticky Stuff lesson.  I had them feel the tape and describe it to me.  "Sticky" they both said.  We talked about how spider webs are sticky and that's how they catch things in their web.  Then we made our own sticky web in a cereal box.  I think it's kind of funny that it's a spiderman cereal box.  The sticky part of the tape is sticking out.  We are supposed to leave it outside for a couple of days to see what we can catch.  But it's been raining here so we had to leave it inside.  Not sure we will catch too much.  But it's still a neat idea.