Avacodos and the end of our "In the Orchard" Unit...

On Thursday of last week our Mother Goose lesson was all about avocados!

 We reviewed the color green during circle time.  I asked the kids to find items in the room that are the color green...

 I chose four items to have the kids put in order from darkest to lightest shades.  We discussed that an avocado has different shades of green on it.

 Avocados are very healthy!  I named a bunch of different foods and asked the kids to give me a thumbs up if it was healthy, and a thumbs down if it was not.

 We sang, "Where's Your Pit" to the tune of "Frere Jacques."  We discussed that the center of an avocado is a seed called a "pit."

 The kids worked on the color green page in their journal.  They used items in the collage box to make a green tree.  "My tree is green."

 Digging in the collage box is so much fun!

 The kids finished their workbooks!  I am SO proud of all the work they have done this month!  We wanted to finish early so we could have fun with Halloween the last week of October!

 Mother Goose provided each child with this letter review game!  I am so appreciative that Mother Goose was able to print a copy for each child so they could play at home!!!

 This was a funny book!  The kids LOVED it!  It encouraged them to eat avocados, so they can grow strong muscles!

 Mother Goose provided us with this recipe card for avocado dip...

 Unfortunately, our avocados were not ripe until Friday, so the remainder of this post is from Friday.

 Making guacamole!

 I served the dip with tortilla chips and carrot sticks!

 This little one LOVES guacamole! :)

 I set out a few extra avocados for the kids to explore.  There are a lot of different textures on an avocado, and kids learn through touching.  So I told them they could literally play with them, smash them, squeeze them, anything.  Strangely enough though, no one was really interested.  A few of the kids picked them up, but that was it.

 In the afternoon we completed the following math activities all with supplies that Mother Goose gave us this month!

Walnuts...

On Wednesday our Mother Goose lesson was all about walnuts! 

During circle time I introduced the kids to a new global friend from Russia.  We learned that walnuts are a popular nut in Russia.  We also learned how to say "Hello" in Russian; "Privyet."

We sang, "The Brown Walnut" to the tune of "The Muffin Man."

Mother Goose provided us with new postcards for a writing activity.  For years I have allowed the children to write to whomever they wish to, and then I sent them home.  I left it up to the parents to actually send them in the mail.  I have decided to switch things up a bit.  From now on, I will have the kids write to one person in the class.  I figure it will be a great self-esteem booster and way more fun to actually have one special person per month receive the postcards in the mail at home!!!!

Being that we learned about Russia, Mother Goose provided us with this Russian Tea Cake recipe card...

The kids always have a blast helping out in the kitchen, and I enjoy baking so it is a win/win for everyone!

Each child had a special part in the baking process...

Smashing the walnuts...

The kids even rolled the cookie dough balls!

They need a little lesson on how to space out the cookie dough! :)

While the cookies baked we taste tested a bunch of different types of nuts: walnuts, pecans, almonds, and pistachios!

Once the cookies cooled a bit, the kids helped roll them in powdered sugar.

I let them eat the cookies right away! Yummy!

After our baking we watched an informative video online about how walnuts are harvested from the trees.  (See video here.)

Mechanical trucks actually shake the trees and all the walnuts fall from the trees.  Some of the kids thought this was hilarious, so they requested to watch the video a few times.  :)

Next the kids worked on the rectangle shape page in their journal.

"I made a rectangle...apple tree."

We discussed what things are in the shape of a rectangle.  I asked the kids to draw rectangles on colored paper and cut and paste them on their page.  They could add details to their drawings to complete their picture.

I was so impressed with this little guy's work!

He completely thought outside the box (off the page).  He cut and pasted  a bunch rectangles together off of his page.  He said, "It is a car, a truck, and suitcases because we're moving to a new home."  His mom is a Realtor! ;)

The kids played a matching game from their literacy workbook that reviewed the letters we are learning about this month...

They also completed a pattern page from their math workbook...

These were our books for the day....

"Adventures at Walnut Grove" is a great book!  It even provided discussion questions at the end of the story!

In the afternoon...

Mother Goose provided us with these walnut counting cards...

I had one child draw a large tree on a piece of paper.  Then I set out the walnut counting cards with a bowl of real walnuts.  The kids could choose a number card, match it to the card with the same amount of walnuts, and then place that number of walnuts on the tree picture.