PeeWees: Bailey Goes Camping (week 2)

 Welcome back for Week 2 of Bailey Goes Camping, sadly the last time I will teach PeeWees.  I'm first in the rotation, so I'm also first to be last.

Arrival:  We started this week with more art - coloring bunny ears for our headbands.  I thought we would wear them on our bear hunt, but they didn't really want to.  They were still fun to color.  Some took it pretty seriously and colored both sides.  I also asked them to write the first letter of their name somewhere on an ear to identify them.  This had mixed success.  Poppy's "P" looks like a lollipop, for example.  But it's a start.   

 After they colored, I stapled the headbands together and added the ears, one kid at a time.  While I finished, the kids broke into a spontaneous bunny parade.  Any excuse to run the circle track!

Circle Time:  "Stand Up" song, alphabet, finding our name letters, then counting.  I laid out the camping bingo pictures from last time, and we reviewed what they each were.  Most are obvious and easy, like tent, sleeping bag, backpack, etc.  I called the "kabob" picture "hot dog."  There were a few I had to explain, like stake, but they recognized most of them.  "Mushroom" was a favorite.  We counted one way and then the other - they really only get hung up around 17 now, especially if someone is a little ahead.  

Activity 1:  We did things a little out of order this week.  Normally at this point we read our main book.  But we couldn't do that yet because we needed our bears for that, and our bears were currently hidden out in the yard.  So, bear hunt first.  We gathered in the tent and read We're Going on a Bear Hunt. One of the things Bailey's brother and sister tell them they do camping is hunt for bears, so this was an obvious choice.  But I also wanted to do this book because they'd already done it with Corduroy so it would be a fun review/connection.

 Then we gathered up our binoculars that we painted last time, and headed out into the yard.  Bodie was particularly worried about the bear hunt, and wanted to make sure we weren't really going to a real forest to hunt real bears.  I promised him we would stay in the yard and it wouldn't be scary. 

 The binoculars were a hit. 

I'd "hidden" them pretty well in sight, but they still needed a little help finding them.  Everyone got to find one; it was pretty fun.  It's amazing how those nocs really do seem to bring things closer. 

Reading:  Back into the tent we went, and put our bears in our prop bags.  Then everyone took out their flashlights and shined them on their chins, remembering from the ghost story last time.  We read through Bailey again, taking out our items as they appeared in the story.  So fun.

 Snack:  Another thing Bailey learned you do camping is eat hot dogs, so we had turkey hot dogs and carrots for snack, outside because it was a perfect day for camping!  I gave them each a half dog in half bun but they all took out the dogs and ate them and the bun separately.  Carrots had mixed reception.  I taught them the phrase "al fresco."

Activity 2:  Since we were already outside, we played another round of Camping Bingo with marshmallows - they are experts at this now.  Until someone knocks the table and all the marshmallows slide around.

Activity 3:  Reading the ghost story last time was pretty popular, so by request we went back in the tent with flashlights and read the "silly" ghost story again.

Activity 4:  According to Bailey, the very best thing about camping is roasting marshmallows, so we had to do it!  I busted out my crème brûlée torch and showed them what roasting marshmallows is all about.  Reactions ranged from surprised to horrified.  Poppy and Henry were the only ones that would try them.  Jackson and Bodie politely requested to just have "plain marshmallows."  I may have also eaten one or two or three.  They are irresistable!

Closing:  The day was too perfect; there was no point in going inside.  So I brought out some sidewalk chalk and let them doodle on the back walk until parents arrived.  Things fell apart a little at this point; Poppy had an accident, my neighbor came out to chat, Henry got hurt, etc.  The end there was harried but the rest of the day was wonderfully perfect!  I hope everyone was worn out enough to blissfully fall asleep under the stars that night!