Preschool

Spring is here now, spring is here now
birdies build your nest.
weave together straw and feather
doing each your best.
Spring is here now, spring is here now
flowers are waking, too.
daisies, lilies, daffodillies
now are coming through.
Spring is here now, spring is here now
all around is fair.
shimmer, glimmer on the river,
joy is everywhere.

Spring is definitely here. Birds are singing, the sun is shining, joy is in the air. We've been lapping up this amazing weather with more outside play, drinking up the sun forces, watching the flower blossoms burst out of their buds with Lady Spring's warm kisses. Watering our garden, planting, weeding, and taking a deep breath in as we smell the jasmine and all the other sweet smells of spring.

This term, the children at Preschool have been taking great pride in making their very own clapping sticks. We started off with a story of a little friend just the same age, who was sitting underneath the Coolamon Tree, wondering what he could do, when a great idea came to him. First, he found just the right sticks which needed sawing to just the right size. Then he whittled the bark off and sanded his sticks, and sanded his sticks, and sanded his sticks. When, finally, they were nice and smooth, he was able to paint them and make a very special rainbow serpent bag to put them in to keep safe. 

The Preschool children loved this story so much, they were eager to make their own set of clapping sticks. We went for a walk down to the Coolamon Tree to find just the right stick, not just any stick. Then we sawed the stick to size and measured to make sure both sticks were even. We whittled the sticks, taking great care with our safety gear on (silk cloths and muslin of course). Next, we sanded, and sanded and sanded until no more sanding could be had. Then we were finally able to paint them, with so much care and dedication and enthusiasm, ready for our Spring Festival. 

Meanwhile, in the garden, Mother Mulberry Tree was spreading out her branches out after a long winter's nap, bursting with juicy green leaves for our silkworms to munch on and juicy mulberries for us to eat (and for the birds as well). Yum! Yum! Our silkworms hatched from their eggs very hungry and needed lots of care and fresh mulberry leaves every day. 

The children loved the story of Silky Wiggly, who hatched from her teenie tiny egg very hungry, wanting something to munchity crunch on. Soon she grew big and plump and was too big to move around, so she made herself a silky yellow bed to sleep in. When she awoke from her slumbers she peeked out of her cocoon to find that she had grown to be a silk moth. She was so happy that she flittered and she fluttered her silk moth wings and found that she was able to lay eggs! When Silky Wiggly finished laying her eggs, we put her eggs in a warm dry place, safe until next year, when Mother Mulberry stretches her branches out after a long Winter's nap.

The mulberries have been so delicious that we just had to make an apple and mulberry pie to enjoy at our Spring Festival! Yum! Yum! The children made flower garlands, decorated the Coolamon Tree, sang songs using our clapping sticks and finished our festival with a slice of warm pie. What a way to welcome Spring!

Susan Denney
Preschool Group Leader