Field Trip
It was a short, but busy week! The class went on a field trip to Wilson farm. Back at school, the class learned and explored all about caterpillars and butterflies.
The children enjoyed the interactive tour of Wilson Farm. A woman who works there took us around the farm. We walked through the garden shop and she pointed out and described different plants. We saw little green strawberries starting to grow on a plant. Then, she took us to the factory area. We saw a machine that makes fresh orange juice. We got to watch a man pour the oranges in and we watched the oranges get squished. Then, we saw the man put a little jug at the spout on the machine and it filled the jug with fresh orange juice. We also got to see different factory machines and machines used on the farm. Next, we went to an area where the bakery goods are received. Our tour guide showed us a conveyer belt that is used to move the goods up to the store level. She had the children notice that when the belt stopped, the goods did not slide down. She explained that it was because the conveyer belt was made out of a grippy material similar to the material on the bottom of our shoes. She allowed the children to feel and push down on the conveyer belt. Next, we went to see where they cut and assembly the flower bouquets. The green house was next. The tour guide showed us seedlings growing and explained that when the seedlings grow big enough they go into the next room and when they grow even bigger they get moved to the field. The woman showed us a grow box that had a window so that we could see the roots! Our final stop was the fields. She showed us different crops such as red lettuce, green leaf lettuce, parsley and green onions. She even picked some parsley for the children to smell. She also picked some green onions and showed the children how you can see the roots when pull it out of the ground to sell or use for cooking. The children also got to smell the green onion. The children had a wonderful time at the farm!
Back in the classroom this week, we read the book The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle and the children made their own caterpillars by painting part of an egg carton. The children also made the butterfly from the book. The children colored coffee filters with washable markers, then spray a little water to mix the colors and create a tie dye effect! Once the coffee filters were dry, we slid the filter into the doll pin and scrunch it together to look like wings. Pipe cleaners were added as the butterflies “feelers,” which we learned about in another butterfly book.
At the tables, the children completed caterpillar puzzles. The pieces of the caterpillar had numbers on them. Some of the children used the numbers to help complete the puzzle. They counted the spaces or the little pictures on a space to find out which number it was, then finding the piece with that number on it. At another table, there was a shape match to make the butterfly from the book we read. This was actually a board game, but the children just enjoyed matching the shapes and explored with the Caterpillar game pieces. There was also butterfly building toy. The children made wonderful structures. At the last table, there was play dough with butterfly shapes.
In the sensory table, there was a new material to explore. This was the first time the children explored the sensory experience of flaxseed. The children tried to describe the feeling of the seed and learned a new word, flaxseed.
On the rug, the children played together with a dinosaur mountain. Up on the loft, the children used a Jack in the Box, but it was actually a caterpillar in a box! It was themed as The Very Hungry Caterpillar. There was also a board book and a plush Caterpillar from the book. At the easel there was The Very Hungry Caterpillar themed magnets. The children made different scenes from the book or created their own scene. On the other side, the children painted caterpillars using a bottle cape and a clothespin to hold the cap.
