Let me start off by saying HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to all you amazing mothers out there :) You are so wonderful and the world is lucky to have you in it! I do consider myself a mini-mother to these cutie pie fuzz nuggets:
And now... HOLY crow! This week was absolutely NUTS - and sooooo much fun! I told you all about Survivor Week in my post HERE. This week was finally Survivor Week and it was amazing, as usual. My kids had a total and complete blast! They look forward to it every year :) So this year's Survivor Week focused on the book Dillo by Kyle L. Miller. Here is our final totem! The little Dillo traveled around the totem when you turned him on (he was glued onto a toy train!)
DAY #1
We kicked off the week with a presentation by the author herself!
Next we went to watch this ridiculously awesome wood carver who carved little Dillo the Armadillo out of wood!
Onto our next station, we mosied over to the fire pits where the kids popped their own popcorn! This was actually quite scary for me, being the overprotective and control freak person that I am. Especially when the kids went to turn and almost poked the person next to them with their popper (which was basically on fire). Not sure kindergarten was ready for this station.
The next station we arrived at was soooo much fun. The kids had to work together to move Dillo (the ball) down the maze and back to her Marmma (the hole at the bottom). They did a way better job than I expected.
By the end of this station, they were getting a bit dehydrated so we stopped for a yoo-hoo break!
Up next was a much needed calm and relaxing station! The kids had to draw their favorite animal from the story! Then the judges picked the very best piece of artwork and they received a little trophy. Everyone got 2 gummy worms just for their fabulous effort.
We took a 10 minute recess break and while we were on the playground, the littles found this adorable baby bunny at the bottom of the slide! Isn't he the cutest!? I was seriously worried about him. Luckily we have an animal expert on staff and he took care of the tiny baby.
We just kept on moving along to our next station, which was an animal fact hunt! the kids really enjoyed the snack at the end - ants on a log!
Now keep in mind - everything you have seen so far all occurred on the same day BEFORE noon. I told you - it is nuts.
After the fact hunt, we headed to PE where there were even more fun stations set up!
Ant Blow:
Armadillo Race and Roll:
Animal Dig:
And to wrap it all up, we all got together to take a class picture with a scene from Dillo!
And that was all in Day 1! I felt like I was going to pass out by the end of it all. I sat down and ate 3 cupcakes. By myself. And cried.
DAY 2
Day 2 began with another fantastic presentation - this time it was with the Reptile Man! He shared turtles, lizards, an alligator, and several snakes, including a HUGE python! The kids were freaking out.
Next we went to make nature bracelets out of palm. This was slightly less successful than I had hoped. When I originally heard about this station, I assumed that it would be using the palm fronds, however, we were actually using the trunk of the tree. So I had to tear off multiple chunks for each child and there was only 1 instructor. I have NO idea how to make these bracelets, so I did my best to rotate around the room and help, since the gentleman only had time to help about 2 students in the 20 minutes of time that was allotted for this. In conclusion - we took some of the materials back to the room and finished there, which took about an hour. Sheesh.
After the bracelet fun, we watched a whip cracker! He asked if my teacher bestie or I would volunteer to help him and we both said, "Of course!" and he said, "Well, you don't even know what I'm going to ask you to do." and my bestie said, "Yes, that's just in our nature." HA! Cracked me up.
Our next jewelry adventure went MUCH better. The kids added a bead to represent each animal from the story and a little fact label. After they were finished, I tied them to a piece of string and they wore them as necklaces!
And that was the end of day 2. On this day I sat in my room and ate an entire bag of doritos. By myself.
DAY 3
By day 3, I was pretty much exhausted, but ready for more action.
The day started with a fun presentation about owls!
Then we made "Marmma's Mud Cups". The kids LOVED them - and so did I :)
Back in our room, we did an owl activity while eating a cute owl snack!
And finally, PE was Water Day! The kids were soaked and it was hilarious to watch!
In the end, it was all worth the stress and exhaustion because the kids had SOOOOO much fun!!
By day 3, I was pretty much exhausted, but ready for more action.
The day started with a fun presentation about owls!
Then we made "Marmma's Mud Cups". The kids LOVED them - and so did I :)
Back in our room, we did an owl activity while eating a cute owl snack!
And finally, PE was Water Day! The kids were soaked and it was hilarious to watch!
In the end, it was all worth the stress and exhaustion because the kids had SOOOOO much fun!!