Silas and I enjoyed going to Botanica for Garden Sprouts this spring....
During each Sprouts class the children hear a story or two, sing songs, play games, explore and learn, make a craft, and eat a snack. In February they learned about snow and snowflakes. Silas thought his craft (a boy catching snowflakes on his tongue) looked pretty funny, a lot like characters he had seen before on Charlie Brown. The snack was delicious...a flour tortilla cut to look like a snowflake and then sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar and heated in the hot skillet for a minute or so.
In March the kids all learned about Woodland Creatures. The teacher had many stuffed animal woodland creatures for all the kids to hold, look at, and play with. When it was time for the lesson to start each kid could pick one animal to hold onto in their lap... Silas really liked the "baby Fox" but another boy sitting next to him was already holding it. I talked Silas into holding a Wolf instead. He wasn't happy about this situation at all. The next thing I knew Silas had his Wolf turned to look at the boy and baby Fox, and I heard a low growling noise coming from my son. The growling grew louder as my son and the Wolf continued to stare down the other little boy and baby Fox. When the other little boy finally noticed Silas growling at him, a growling challenge ensued. Back and forth at least three times as the growls grew louder. (I wish I had been videoing this scenario. Instead, I was trying to keep myself from laughing outloud as the small scene escalated.) Finally I scooted over by Silas and whispered in his ear, in my nicest teacher voice, to "Stop Now." He stopped, but not without reminding me that he still wanted to hold that baby Fox.
Next up, was going outside to walk like some woodland creatures. Silas was good at this. He really got into it, jumping, flapping his arms, and crawling. (Silas, wearing the red hoodie below)
The craft for woodland creatures was right up Silas's alley... a little red Fox! And, the snack was HILARIOUS! Chocolate with crasins, and nuts mixed together, then shaped into what Raccoon poop would look like.... Ummmm??? What??? Yes, it looked like a big Raccoon turd. After I showed Silas what was inside it, and talked him into trying it, he liked it and ate the whole chocolate poop. The little girl sitting next to him however, would not even try it. She did pick it up and look at it, but could not bring herself to eat it.
In April they learned about Ducks and Geese. Outside they had to find and collect their own snack. There were several bowls hidden around the children's area with food in them that a duck or goose might eat...seeds, and (gummi) worms were two of the treats they found.
Their craft project in April was to make a duck using paint, feathers, and googly eyes. Silas's handprint was the brown body of the duck. After Sprouts, Silas and I like to look around Botanica for awhile. He likes to walk and climb around the children's area, play the musical instruments, and look at the fish in the small garden ponds.
In May they learned about Roly Polies. Each child was given a small bug collector/catcher at the beginning Sprouts and then directed outside to get some dirt. Then they were to find and collect some Roly Polies. Silas was really excited about this. He has been very into catching Lady bugs and Roly Polies lately around our home. In fact, he even carried his bug catcher to his sister's ball practices so that he could look for and collect bugs while they practiced. He and his bug catching became known amongst the kids and parents, and they all started helping him find and catch as many Lady Bugs as they could during practices.
Silas collected dirt, Roly Polies, a big snail, Lady Bugs, and a Caterpillar. Next the kids all came back together and poured their Roly Polies, and other bugs in Silas's case, into some bins with dirt in them.
The kids all did some experiments on their bugs... Sunlight versus shade? Broccoli versus a Strawberry? Which did the Roly Polies, and other bugs, like the best? Silas was excited when his snail crawled right over to the Strawberry for a snack.
The snack for May was a Roly Poly roll up. Biscuits rolled up and baked with cheese and Broccoli in them. Silas loved them! The craft was to make a Roly Poly.
On a side-note: Silas and I may have also enjoyed throwing a few bugs and worms into the small garden ponds while at Botanica a couple times. We both may have loved to watch the fish slowly swim over to investigate the thrown in bug or worm then quickly gobble it up and swim away. This may have made some Botanica employees and volunteers sad, unhappy, or a little upset that an innocent bug or worm might drown. I personally guarantee you none of them drowned. All were gobbled up by the hungry fish. Sorry, not sorry. This mommy and son had fun and made some memories feeding and watching the fish together.
