Tracks in the Mud Painting

For Week Three our focus was on tractors/farm machines and the book Rusty, Trusty Tractor. To go along with this theme, our art project was Tracks in the Mud.

It was a beautiful day so we rolled out a large sheet of paper on the drive way, filled a baking pan with WASHABLE brown paint and then dipped a variety of items into the paint to make mud tracks on the page (you could easily do a scaled down version at the kitchen table but I do think it is important for big, messy art sometimes). This is one of those projects that is all about the PROCESS not the PRODUCT.

It was so much fun. By the end, the kids had gotten so into it… they were literally IN it and left their own tracks in the mud.

Rusty, Trusty Tractor/Farm Machines (Week Three)

Week Three (Sep 15th-19th)

Book of the Week:

Rusty, Trusty Tractor

Rusty, Trusty Tractor

Expansion Book:

Machines at Work: Tractor

Machines at Work: Tractor

Letter of the Week: C

C is for Columbine

We will be coloring the Columbine page from our Flower Fairies Alphabet Coloring Book and reading the accompanying story in the Flower Fairies Alphabet Book.

Craft for the Week: Tracks in the Mud

We will be dipping a variety of objects (toy cars, old toothbrush, combs, marbles, etc) in paint and then making tracks on a page.

Baking Recipe for the Week: Grape Nut Cookies

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 c. flour

1 t. baking soda

1 1/2 c. (3 sticks) margarine

2/3 c. firmly packed brown sugar

2/3 c. granulated sugar

1 egg

1 t. vanilla

2 c. Post Grape-Nuts cereal

2 c. oatmeal

1 c. dried fruit (cranberries, raisins, etc.)

DIRECTIONS

Mix flour and baking soda in small bowl. Bear margarine in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed to soften. Gradually add sugars, beating until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Gradually add flour mixture, beating well after each addition. Stir in cereal, oats and fruit. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake in a 375 oven for 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool 1 minutes; remove from cookie sheets. Cool completely on wire racks.

Field Trip Ideas:

Do you think taking the kids to HomeDepot to play on the riding lawn mowers would count? ;). Actually the Cider Mill we go to all the time has a wonderful play ground complete with several old tractors the kids can ‘drive.’ We will probably make our almost weekly appearance there… and will take the tractor pulled wagon ride out to the orchard to pick some apples.

Poem of the Month for September:

No, not I. For if I do he’s sure to cry.

Little Boy Blue

Little Boy Blue,

Come blow your horn;

The sheep’s in the meadow, the cow’s in the corn.

Where is the boy who looks after the sheep?

He’s under a haystack, fast asleep.

Will you wake him?

Kindergarten/Preschool Term One Overview