Meeting Four!

You would think that with five bottles of glue for fifteen girls it would be enough. Well, it would have been if we remembered to teach them the three drops rule. Note to self: next time we use glue, teach them the three drops rule.

We started out our meeting with the usual potty and water fountain dance, followed by the pledge, the promise, the law and a song. After that, we went into talking about our good turns. Last week we taught them that not only do we clean up after ourselves, but we leave our areas looking better than we found them. We then suggested that their good turn for the week was to pick up any trash that they see (and since theses are five and six year olds, we had to remind them that if it was hazardous or really icky trash, to tell an adult). Each girl had a turn to tell everyone else what they did. They had done things like pick up trash in their classrooms, help clean up after a sibling, help a relative clean up and just the usual make sure they cleaned up after themselves.

Yesterday, we got to read from the journey book for the first time. Our first story later worked into this week's good turn. We read A Perfect Surprise in the Garden (starting on page 7). There are many things you can take from that story, including to be cautious around new friends (stranger danger even) and to be kind to new people. Next, we read When a Camera Meets a Nest (page 14). After reading the two passages, we discussed what we learned from each. The biggest thing we emphasized (leading into our craft) was that birds use whatever they can find to make nests, but each species of bird creates different nests. That then lead into even though we are alike, we are also unique. We then explained that their nests were to reflect who they were as person and the things they liked (and not to copy their neighbors). The girls had a lot to choose from. We had the packing paper that we had shredded, shreds of construction paper, remnants from fabric, yarn, pom-poms, foil and a few other things I can't remember at the moment. Each bowl came out so well! They definitely were a reflection of each girl.

With the few minutes to spare, we then had the girls make their investiture invites. We pre-printed the info for them. All they had to do was pick what color paper they wanted, decorate it, address it, and then glue in the info. It was simple, but it also gave them a sense of pride to know that they made the invitations themselves for their ceremony.

Next week, we're going to be making a team bird bath, that in April, we will have the opportunity to put in one of our local parks (that is in conjunction with a petal activity and community service).