As a Experience Early Learning (EEL) Blogger, I receive the EEL Preschool Curriculum in exchange for my honest opinions and authentic stories about our experiences using the curriculum. All opinions and thoughts are completely my own.
It’s Springtime in Texas! The weather is glorious, the birds are returning and building nests, and the snakes are out. Blue Jays built a nest in our azaleas, and while I was weeding the garden bed, I took a close look at their nest without disturbing it. Good thing too! There was a rat snake in there! My husband “took care” of that creature and my kids and I were able to get a closer look at the snake. This led my girl’s interest in snakes and as we journeyed to the zoo last week, she was captivated by the reptile exhibit, specifically the milk snake.
So naturally, when our new Exploring Early Learning (EEL) box: Pond Life came in and there was a discovery bag on snakes, my 5 year old girl could not wait to see what was in store.
We are homeschoolers. I am a former public school teacher turned homeschooling momma to my 5 year old little girl and my 2 year old son. Lately, I have enjoyed making little charts at the beginning of our school day, listing what she knows about a topic. All the thoughts are her own. Sometimes I have to ask questions like, “Where do snakes live?”, or “Tell me all that you know about snakes.” She wanted to add a pattern to my drawing, so while she added that, I worked with my son.
I love the Theme Poster EEL sends each month and the Seek and Find magnifying glasses. This is too easy for my girl now, but he has a great time matching. I was quite impressed when I asked him to find a turtle and he went to the calendar instead of the poster! We acted out what was on the back of the magnifying glasses, like hopping like frogs, walking like turtles, or sticking out our tongues like a snake.
The highlight of our day was creating snakes! EEL sent us everything you see above in our Snake Discovery Bag for our Invitation to Create Snakes! All I had to do was put it out and let them create.
“Momma, I’m going to create a milk snake!” I wasn’t really sure what a milk snake looked like, but she knew. That’s what I get for missing out on the reptile exhibit at the zoo. I looked one up in our book and sure enough it was orange, white and black, which she already knew and was lacing onto her chenille stem.
She used all the orange beads and when her pattern was complete she declared that her snake was done. She wasn’t interested in using the straw pieces at all, and my son was not interested in making a snake. Oh well. You win some, you lose some.
Do you see that extra black chenille stem sticking out? That’s the milk snake’s tongue, lol!
After making snakes, we spent the rest of the morning outdoors, including having a picnic among the blooming azaleas. Take time and have fun with those littles yall!
