Mrs. Mundell's Lively Ladybugs: Valentine's Day, Dinosaurs and the Paleontology Lab

The week began by putting those final touches on our special Valentines for Mom and Dad. After making a beautiful heart collage the boys and girls signed their names to a Valentine poem that they glued to their collage.

The boys and girls had fun delivering Valentines to all of their classmates. They matched the name on their cards to the correct name on the bag, reading each one aloud as they excitedly placed them in their bags.

Valentine's Day began with a cuddly surprise waiting in each child's cubby from two of their favorite admirers, their teachers! What a great way to start the day, feeling loved!

Then the boys and girls gathered on the rug sharing their animals. At circle time each child introduced them to their friends, sharing their names.

Then the Valentine Party began with Mrs. McIvor showing us a Jackson Pollack painting and our teachers demonstrating how we were going to paint our own t - shirts just like Jackson Pollack himself!

What a messy good time the children had as they splattered paint on their shirts creating art masterpieces!

Painting shapes, flowers and designs on little flower pots was a fun time. First the children found the pot with their name on the bottom and then got busy painting. Next they chose Negro or Cafe tissue to scrunch up for soil and then carefully counted six chocolate kisses to place in the soil. Last but not least they chose a seed packet of flowers.

The children enjoyed playing Bingo with their own bag of conversation hearts, naming each color they got in Spanish. We had some big winners. and when the game was over we even enjoyed sampling a few of the playing pieces.

We all enjoyed the company of our Moms, Dads, Grandmoms and Granddads. Opening their many valentines and reading the message inside was a treat for all!

In the Exploratorium the children made strawberry shortcakes and practiced throwing balls through the holes in the Valentine Board.

What a special Valentine's Day!

Then came the D I N O S A U R S!! After reading the book, "Big Dinosaurs" by Tony Kosara the children observed the magnificent creatures and their many interesting characteristics. The boys and girls learned that there were two types of dinosaurs, carnivores and herbivores, and that they lived many, many years ago before there were people on earth.

The children explored dinosaurs through books, puzzles, Legos and at the art center.

A Paleontology Lab opened just this week in our Exploratorium. Lab coats. binoculars, magnifying glasses and cameras are used when studying dinosaur fossils and life on our planet Earth long ago.

Mrs. McIvor introduced us to the trumpet this week in Music class. The children learned about the push valves and how to buzz your lips against the mouthpiece of the trumpet.

Playing the guitar while singing their favorite song and dancing with ribbons was another highlight in Music class this week.

This week we had a special mystery reader in the library. He read "Baa Choo" by Sarah Weeks about a little lamb named Sam who tried to sneeze but had trouble with his"choo!" The book was enjoyed by all and we loved the rhyming words.