The Garden is looking really wonderful;
flowers are blooming, mulch and compost
have been spread and the weeds have
been “tamed”. We received a new picnic
table this week and it has been set up to
help create an outdoor classroom area in
the garden and soon there will be a chalk
board for teachers and children to write
and draw on!
This week the children explored items in
the garden using observation mirrors and
magnifying boxes. These tools helped the
children understand the importance of
looking and observing with our eyes.
Some of the children were given a challenge
to match a leaf with a distinct smell to the
plant it came from. They looked for basil,
licorice mint, and bee balm; some were
harder to find than others, but with the help
from their peers all of the children were
able to find their plants.
There has also been some progress on
the creation of the “Bug Hotel” I found an
old shelving system in my families barn,
we knocked out the back board to make
it accessible from both sides, put a
protective glaze on it and next week we
will begin the installation process. Here
is a before picture, next week I will share
what the final outcome is.
Hopefully the rising kindergarteners will
be able to study the insects that we have
in the garden to determine what we should
put in our bug hotel to accommodate the
bugs we want to live in it. Then we will get
to work filling it will bamboo, wood, straw,
leaves, and whatever else the children
come up with.