We Don't Mind the Weather, if the Garden Grows

We have a song about marigolds that says "we don't mind the weather, if the garden grows," and this week has been a good one for that. We had a great week in the garden, preparing a bed, planting pansies and checking them for flowers daily, watering when the weather wasn't doing it for us (and some of the days it did), and checking daily for new flowers. Two have opened, little purple ones, and we'll see what other colors we see in the box this coming week. It's important to be gentle when we touch them, and I get a big smile every time I see two children talking to each other about being careful of the flowers. Exploration is important, too, and curious kids are active kids, so we brought a sensory table with some grass clods (dirt still attached), some dandelions, a tree root, and some other plants into the daycare for circle time on Monday. It's on the porch for friends to explore with their fingers and eyes. Our friends like taking apart the plants there, turning over the pieces that are too big to hold in their hands so they can see every side and all the different parts, but we're very careful not to hurt bugs or worms when find them. We'll be planting snap peas in the next two weeks, and more coming soon!

Other highlights of the week: counting games with dice, tracing names and imagining what words with sound like if they started with different letters, discussion about worms, and some lovely paintings of flowers done by the kids.
 
Hop up, my marigolds, two in a row
Hop up, my marigolds, two in a row
Hop up, my marigolds, two in a row
we don't mind the weather if the garden grows
for if the wind blows, the rain will fall
and the sun comes out, and the flowers grow
if the wind blows, the rain will fall
and the sun comes out and the flowers grow