Lunch Bunch @ Great Plains Nature Center...

We met at Great Plains Nature Center this morning for some PAT fun!

GPNC is a great local resource for families! There is an indoor museum, several live animals to view, a 2,200 gallon aquarium, a beautiful observation room that looks out over a great natural setting with plenty of wildlife, and a series of outdoor trails that range from 0.5 to 1.7 miles long.

We began inside. The kids made binoculars for our animal adventure. We walked through the indoor museum, visited the fish tank, and explored various sounds, sights, and textures in the many interactive displays.





Next, we headed towards the quail trail, where we saw a variety of plants, trees, flowers, birds, turtles, and bugs!





When we were finished with our trail, we headed to a shady spot under some trees for our picnic lunch. The kids had a great time and us parents were able to talk, share some ideas for summer and outdoor fun, and enjoy the breeze under the shade!



The best part about GPNC... it's a completely FREE place to visit with your family! They are open Monday-Saturday from 9 AM to 5 PM. Check online or call 316.683.5499 for information about upcoming events, classes, and FREE story times!

Grins & Squiggles Tomorrow, 5/7

Join us for a special Mother's Day Edition of Grins & Squiggles.

Friday, May 7th
7:00-8:00 PM, come and go
Munson Library

Dads, Grandpas, and friends: Give Mom the night off and bring the kids on to make a special Mother's Day card and gift. OR, take time as a family to stop in and make something for Grandma, Aunt, or special teacher or caregiver! :)

Hope to see you all there!

Please RSVP to Heather: hleggettATusd263.k12.ks.us

Tomorrow is Ready, Aim, Play!

Join us in the PAT room tomorrow (4/21) from 3:45-4:45 pm. The kids can enjoy open play time while the adults discuss our winning topic:

Making Family Memories... on a Budget!

Hope to see you all there!

Grins & Squiggles: How Does Your Garden Grow?

We met Tuesday night for a special edition of Grins & Squiggles! With spring in full bloom, we decided to go with a garden theme. Miss Debbie led us in a caterpillar finger play:

The Fuzzy Caterpillar
(Tune: The Itsy Bitsy Spider)

The fuzzy little caterpillar
climbed upon a leaf.
She spun her little chrysalis,
and then fell fast asleep.
While she was sleeping,
she dreamed that she could fly.
And later when she woke up,
she was a butterfly!

Then, Miss Debbie told the story of The Very Hungry Caterpillar, using a board book and interactive story boards. We worked on identifying various fruits and vegetables.







After story time, we broke off into groups. Some of the children stayed inside the PAT room for potato stamping, which promptly turned into finger painting, thanks to some fabulous imaginations!



Who's afraid of a big, bad mess? WE'RE NOT!!!



Our hallway activity consisted of hands-on gardening. Each child was able to plant a starter flower in a peat pot. We also planted pole bean seeds into small cups so that the children could witness the process of germination at home. Our students had no problem digging in and getting their hands dirty! Look at all of their beautiful work:



We closed with another finger play:

Out in the Garden by Jean Warren
(Tune: Down by the Station)

Out in the garden early in the morning,
See the red tomatoes all in a row.
See the happy farmer coming out to pick them,
Pick, pick, pick, pick, off he goes.

Additional Verses: See the yellow squashes all in a row; See the blueberries all in a row; See the green string beans all in a row; See the orange carrots all in a row; See the purple cabbages all in a row.

The older children were assigned a visual representation of each vegetable, and came up to form a row as we sang the appropriate verse. Not only did we learn to identify our veggies, we also worked on our colors!

All in all, we had a very successful garden edition of Grins & Squiggles. Hope to see you all next time!

Grins & Squiggles: Outdoor Fun!

We met last week for some awesome outdoor fun! We painted with water, used sponges, made creations with sidewalk chalk, made egg maracas, and poured and sprayed water to stay cool!

See how much fun we had?

Infantino Baby Sling Recall

More than 1 million Infantino baby slings have been recalled due to suffocation risk. Read recall notice and steps to get a replacement product here.

Grins & Squiggles TONIGHT!!

Join us for some winter fun! We will meet in the PAT room (737 Munson) at 6:30 to delight in stories, songs, crafts, and a special treat related to snow, cold weather, and all things WINTER!