The 5 senses on a farm.

We went to a favorite climbing spot from years past that had been covered in nettles till the cooler weather took off.  It was amazing climbing!

There was so much to "sense" at Farrel McWhirter today.  The TOP kids are beginning a section on the senses.  Starting with a focus on the sense of smell,  we asked the kids: What do you smell?  The kids answers were: leaves, pancakes, the cat.  (Un)fortunately for us, Farrell McWhirter is a very clean farm and the farm smells aren't too pronounced so we had to go in search of smells that were more subtle. 

To augment the senses class, we began the day with the fine motor skill of putting cheerios on plastic string for a cheerio necklace.  This was the sense of taste as kids were putting one on the necklace and one in their mouths! Tasting! During circle time we talked about all of the senses and how we use them. 

The leaves were captivating. So fun to squish and crackle in.

On their hike, the blue group listened closely to see if they could hear the yellow group in another part of the park.  They passed by their pumpkin to say hello while they hiked the perimeter trail around much of the park.  They ended up in the prolific leaves in the back meadow which made great crunching and crackling sounds in spite of their wetness.

The kids found a pile of gravel and just had to march up and down it!  There was no shoving or being rough.  Just concentration.

The yellow group took a hike into a different part of the woods-where we had never been!  We passed a pile of gravel which just had to be climbed, shook leaves off of trees trying to catch them and ended up climbing on huge logs up and down.  Everyone was very brave and practiced their balancing and climbing skills. 

Back at lunch we shared with each other where we hiked and out experiences.  Angus told everyone how the blue's pumpkin was getting really yucky.  We were able to eat lunch under the open sky again! Yippee!