a good first week

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It began last tuesday, working with the 2, 3 and 4 year olds.
Caitlin and I arrived at the Y around 9:30 and set up a variety of collection containers--- trays, bins, boxes with several different compartments.

With the 2s and 3s we explored the playground for interesting "nature things"--- leaves, rocks, sticks, seeds, flowers, mulch...

SOme children were more interested in sorting, some in collecting...



"Red go here on the side. There are more yellows. Yellow here, no... here."



Leaves around us:


"Mine has yellow and red. special leaf, I know

With the 4 year olds, we ventured out into the garden.



Our garden at the Y is reletively new, and there is a fresh enthusiasm for figuring out what its all about!



"Peppers, baby-little watermelons, flowers. Hot peppers that you don't eat unless you want somethin too spicy for most people"



"Watermelons have to be in their own place so that they dont mush the flowers."




On Friday, worked with the elementary kids -- a lot of old timers and some new faces too! Each child got a big name tag



and a pile of beautiful stuff which we used to decorate their name :



London works with Ms. Nancy, finding all the right little things!

Quion worked quietly on his own and spent a lot of time picking the right materials and using the right amount of glue.



"sometimes I use the bottle and squeeze a line [of glue] out. Thats good for rounder things to stick. A lot, I just do the paint brush for these flat circles."





"I use as many kinds of things as I can find. Different shapes and textures make it interesting and good."