Face the facts, we humans are not nearly as inventive, productive, skilled, flexible, or tidy as this tiny arachnid (but we sure tried today!). Spiders are different than insects in so many ways. Can your child name three differences? Numbers like 6 and 8 and 2 and 3 can help us remember a few of the differences. What do these pairs of numbers mean to your child? Did you know that spider silk is 5 times stronger than steel of the same size? Have your child share a spider fact with you.
An orb weaver spider makes a beautiful web as its home. What kind of bugs would get caught on a spider web? Pretending to be a bug and trying not to get caught in the web was a fun activity. What was your child's strategy for getting across the web?
Spiders are small, so we used mini microscopes to help us see little things better. Spiders were pretty active and that made them difficult to see under the mini microscopes. What did you child look at? What new detail did they notice when they used the mini microscopes?
We had our Spidey senses tingling at library today. Grey Squirrel had a table set with spider drawing, she read us a wonderful book about a spider, and also taught us to make our own spider web using sticks and yarn. It took us much less time than an actual spider would take to make a web. (one hour), but really put our fine motor skills to work! Thank you for this full menu of learning.
It was great to fit in some time for tunes at the Mill. It's been too long, so a new song is promised next time. You may see a song book in backpacks that needs to travel back to us each week.
The sun just peeked out in time for our afternoon of creativity. Our tree friends story unfolded as we took time to think about the ways in which their life began. There were many versions that could really turn into children's story books someday. Ask your child how they think their tree ended up on the side of the west side of the pond. What are all the other possibilities? What were some of the scenarios shared by friends in the group? Squirrels, chipmunks, underground, borrow collapses, bird poop, and human plantings were some of the interesting ways that tree friends ended up here.
There was a surprise waiting at tree friends today. Ask your child to describe their pumpkin, using its part names. How many ribs does it have? What is the shape of its belly button and stalk. Ask about the lifecycle of the pumpkin, including how the seed begins to grow. What does the each pumpkin look like at the start at the early stages of its life? In our story today giant pumpkins were used for something quite amazing, what was this? (boat races)
As pumpkins decompose, they are often visited by animals. Have a conversation about animals who might come to eat or sleep inside the pumpkin. What are some important safety considerations before putting a pumpkin outside that might be eaten by animals? We will learn more about the decomposition cycle next week.
Our creations are not jack-o'-lanterns they are 'Spider Houses'. We hope you leave these out for the critters after the big event on Tuesday. We'll be asking for stories (and maybe photos) of how they are changing over time.
Interesting Discoveries, Funny Happenings, and Super Human Feats
It was a busy happy day filled with spinning tales and spinning webs. You may want your child to show you how to weave a web using sticks and twine, or how to make a spider out of pipe cleaners. They make nice Halloween decorations too :-)
How was Grandmother Maple feeling about our spider topic today?
We are so happy BIG Raccoon is back to capture moments for families. We always appreciate the leadership and caring attention of Dragonfly and Tamarack. So great to have Bluebird's help today to make sure we all came home with fingers and toes after pumpkin carving. Thanks to families who sent along tools! if you are missing anything, please give a shout out!
Keep up that super-human enthusiasm. Happy Halloween Forest Friends:)
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