Monday
Whew it is a hot one out there. We ate breakfast, watched
a little TV and had some free play time, then put on our bathing suits and went
outside to water the flowers and play in our pool. We were in by 9:30 but it
was worth getting outside before it got too hot for us. We got dressed into our
clothes for the day and updated our calendar. I cannot believe it is July 20th
already! Where is this summer year going! We did a good job counting all
the way to twenty and we even remembered that it was July. We had some snack
and read our first pirate book of the day, Twenty-Six
Pirates by David Horowitz. Each pirate starts with a different letter and
there is a cute rhyme for each one. Of course “Pirate Lee has to pee” was their
favorite. After we met all twenty six pirates, we assembled our own paper plate
pirate, complete with a bandana and an eye patch. Then we got ready to do an
experiment. We talked about how pirates sail on the ocean and the ocean is full
of saltwater and then we talked about when we swim in pools or our bathtubs, we
are using freshwater. We filled two clear Tupperware containers with water,
then took turns adding salt to one. We (carefully) dropped an egg into our
freshwater container and it sunk straight to the bottom. But we (carefully)
dropped our egg into the saltwater container, it bobbed and floated! I was all
ready to tell them about how once salt is added to the water, the water’s
density becomes higher than the eggs causing the egg to float, but for the
first time ever, they didn’t ask why. We did practice saying the word “buoyant”
a few times though! Before settling down for a story and nap, we pretended we
were pirates and ran around the house looking for land, treasure, and
crocodiles.
Tuesday
Today was another pleasant and fun day! We barely had any
issues or fights. It’s slightly bugging me out. But I am enjoying it while it
lasts. We ate breakfast, had some free play, then got dressed and started our
first project/experiment of the day---making salt dough. We’ve made this before
so I knew they could handle it. I got out their Mickey table and let them be
‘free’ aka non-high chaired. They took turns measuring out and pouring in the
ingredients and then stirring and then rolling the dough out to a flat pancake.
We took one of our play-doh toys and cut circles out of the dough and put them
on a cooling rack to dry out. We are in the process of making our own treasure
to fill in our not made yet treasure chest! Once the dough dries (in about two
days) we will paint it gold and use it as our gold debloons, just like Jake and
the Neverland Pirates (and meeeeee). After our dough was all cut out, we had
snack and read our book of the day, Class Three at Sea by Julia Jarman. Another silly book about pirates trying to overtake a
ship, complete with seagulls pooping and booger-nosed pirates. We finished
snack and our book and played a little more. Then we were on to our next
project, coloring a treasure chest and filling it with gold. While they were
coloring their chests and gluing on some gold coins, I asked each of them what
they would keep in their own treasure chest and I got everything from race cars
(Tristan) to dog food (Lily). Then I asked where they would hide their treasure
and Lily replied with “in the sea” while Tristan made me cover my eyes while he
said “over there”. We did some paintings of pirates and pirate ships to
complete our craft time, had some free play and TV time, then read a story and
took some naps.
Wednesday
The humid sticky weather
finally broke last night so we were able to really enjoy the morning today.
After we ate breakfast and got dressed, we lotioned up and traveled to a new
park. We played there for a good chunk of time using our listening ears and
having fun. They actually put themselves in a timeout during our walk around
the path. They weren’t listening to my directions to FREEZE and wait for me,
then they started swatting at each other, then they both started crying they
didn’t want to leave because they were being bad. But we took some deep breaths
in the car and headed home for ice pops. I was proud of them for recognizing
they weren’t being nice, but I felt bad for the unneeded crying and tantrums.
We came home and ate some popsicles, then headed inside to talk about treasure
maps. I drew up a quick one of the living room and we colored it in. Tomorrow
we will be using those maps to find our treasure!
Thursday
Oh what a beautiful
morning! Oh what a beautiful day! If the weather could stay like this for Lily’s
birthday party Saturday, I will be as happy as a clam. We ate breakfast, did
our calendar, had some free play fort building, then we sunscreened up and
headed outside to enjoy the day! I wanted to assess the yard and straighten it
up a little bit for the party, so we brought out the bubbles, sidewalk chalk,
and opened up the sandbox. We ended up slaying bubbles for a good half hour
until the bubbles ran out. It was the perfect day for bubbles! We came inside
for snack and a story. Today’s story was Pirates,
Ho! By Sarah L. Thomson. We talked about how pirates treasure is often
called “booty” and giggled over that for a bit. Then I gave them the maps they
colored (and I laminated) yesterday. On the map, there were 3 X’s where the
treasure could be found. In one tiny treasure chest (made from a recycled
amazon box and some hot glue) there were two packs of fruit snacks. In a second
tiny treasure chest, there were ABC puzzles for us to do, and in the third
large (recycled box from our case of Not Your Father’s Rootbeer) chest, was
tons of booty in the form of costume jewelry, crowns, and septors. I also
brought down a large Amazon box that we turned into our pirate ship! They had
fun pretending to sail and loot and wear their booty. We read Pirate Boy by Eve Bunting before we took
our naps to conclude our Pirate Week. Tomorrow, we are having Field Trip Friday
for Lily’s 3rd birthday! Still not sure where we are going for the
day, but I am sure we will have fun
Books Used:
Twenty-Six Pirates by Dave Horowitz
Class Three at Sea by Julia Jarman
Pirate Boy
by Eve Bunting
Henry and the Crazed Chicken Pirates by Carolyn Crimi
Pirates, Ho!
By Sarah L. Thomson
