Petland Presentation

The Tues/Thurs class was so lucky to have Petland come and do a 1 hour presentation on our last day of our Animal theme. Jolene brought about 15 animals with her that we all got to see and hold if we wanted to. Don't worry Mon/Wed/Fri class...your animal presentation is coming in April!

All the animals shown were babies so they were very gentle and cuddly. This little bunny was the sweetest little thing!




We all had to sit with our legs crossed if we wanted to hold a guinea pig in our lap.


This is a chinchilla and he sort of looked like a cross between a large mouse, a rabbit and a squirrel. He had the softest fur of all the rodents on his body but his tail felt very bristley like a paint brush.


The ferret was very long and had a strong odour. Jolene said he had been de-scented so I can't even imagine what he would have smelled like if he hadn't been!


Teacher Michelle was brave and she held him. Jolene said he's similar to a cat and can be trained to use a litter box.


He also really liked to play. He rolled over on his back and let his belly be scratched. Then he would stand up and arch his long back and hop! The kids thought that was pretty funny.


We also saw a few different colorful birds. They didn't fly around they just sat in our hands.


...or used our fingers as a perch.




This guy was too big to sit on our fingers so he had to be held in the palm of our hands.




Jolene also brought lizards that all felt very different. This guy was very smooth and Jolene held him with a paper towel so he didn't have any accidents.


This guy was a bearded dragon and he was very spikey. The spikes didn't hurt but his skin felt very bumpy.



This was a baby boa constrictor. I can't believe how big this little guy's going to get!


Lot's of children were brave and touched him to see what he felt like.




Probably the most popular animal was saved for the very end...a baby puppy! He was very friendly, soft and cuddly.


He gave kisses to everyone and they returned the favor by giving him big hugs.



This was a REALLY fun morning. Thank you to Petland for the awesome presentation!

Hospital

Hello everyone! I hope you are all enjoying your child's time at home with you for the Reading Week break. I thought it was the perfect time to get caught up on my blog updating.

Now I know I'm heading back to the Community Helpers theme, but I got some great pictures of our activities and wanted to share them.

We had one of the parents, Lisa, who is a community nurse come in and talk to the kids about nurses during our Hospital day. She did a fabulous presentation to them demonstrating how nurses give needles, why we need them, and why we shouldn't be scared. She also had an adorable little helper too!

They first listened to Cinderella's heartbeat.

And then Cinderella got a needle in her arm. We learned that sometimes nurses give us needles even when we aren't sick, because they help us not get sick later. This was during the H1N1 vaccinations so the children were able to link their own experiences to Lisa's demonstrations. Cinderella was so brave she didn't even cry!

The hospital dramatic play center was very popular with all the children after they got to see some of the tools that nurses use.

...of course they had to try them out for themselves.


Some even answered phones and took down appointments.

The water table was full of medicine cups, empty pill bottles and syringes to further their play.

The craft table was full of familiar medical supplies. Who knew we could make such beautiful art with it? This is a Q-Tip Painting made by dipping cotton swabs in paint and making different designs on the paper.

The children also made Doctor Bag Collages by gluing cotton swabs, tongue depressors, cotton balls and band-aids onto this doctor bag template. It was nice for the children to learn what these items are and how they can help us.

This community occupation was a HUGE hit as you can tell.

Fireman

We talked about fire safety in both classes for more than just the one class, but it was pretty cool in the T/Th Class when we had a real fireman come in and talk to us. Fireman Mark was so great. He wanted to show us all his gear and demonstrated on a special little helper.
He told us how his boots and pants are hooked together so he can put them on really quickly.

Then he pulls the pants up.

There are overalls with the pants and some velcro to help them stay up.

Next he puts on the jacket.

The jacket has a nice high collar to protect his neck and face.

Then the helmet goes on. Our special helper said it was really heavy by now!

He looked too cute all dressed up in the fireman gear!

Fireman Mark wanted us to all see what he looked like when HE had all his gear on so kids wouldn't be afraid of a Fireman if they were ever in a fire.

He started by putting on a protectant hood that covered his hair and neck.

He also showed us the tank of oxygen he uses to breathe. He wears it on his back like a backpack and the black thing in his hand hooks on to his mask to give him air.

Before he put on the helmet and mask he told us all that he was still the same nice Fireman Mark and the mask didn't change that. It's not a scary thing, but something that protects his face and lungs.

Some kids did get a little uneasy when he put on the mask but we kept reassuring everyone that he is nice and helps people. It was really good for the children to see that and Fireman Mark was great with them.

He even let them try and lift his big oxygen tank to see how heavy it was.
It's obviously VERY heavy and he has to carry it around on his back!


He also showed us what a smoke detector is and even what it sounds like. It's very, very loud so that we can hear it even when we are sleeping.

Thank you Fireman Mark! We loved your presentation and hope you will come back again!