There are so many different types of birds, many of which are depicted in the beautiful book, Have You Seen Birds? by Joanne Oppenheim.  Each page was carefully crafted out of clay on a flat surface, and then photographed.  We showed the children how this was done using playdough and paper plates.  Then we painted our own little watercolor birds, and we began painting little birdhouses to entice some feathered friends to move into. 

The bees use an elaborate dance to tell the other foragers where to go to find the best flowers.  And of course their leg hairs collect pollen as they travel from flower to flower, which will pollinate the fruits and vegetables that we grow so that we can have delicious healthy foods!  It all comes full circle back to our backyard garden theme.

This week we began the self-curiosity pillar by teaching the children what it meant to notice things in their world.  We learned that noticing can lead to curiosity and wondering about things.

 We found a ladybug outside, and we passed it around our circle in a little magnifying bug viewer.  We noticed that the ladybug had many spots, and that the elytra covering the wings was red. We also noticed that the ladybug was not moving and its little legs were curled up.  Once the children were able to talk about what they noticed, it led to their growing curiosity and wondering things about the ladybug. 

“Why does the ladybug have a lot of spots?”  “Is the ladybug dead?” “What does the ladybug’s tummy look like?” and “What do ladybugs eat?”

The children were very interested in the ladybug, and this led to them asking questions.  

We repeated this exercise during the week with different objects, framing the children’s curiosity with the language, “I notice...” and “I wonder?...”.