Eaglets

First eaglet hatched March 27, 2012

Second Eaglet hatched March 28, 2012

Mom feeding the babies fish.

One more egg to hatch!

baby eagles!

Building Night!

Thank you to all who participated in building night!  We had so much fun!  It was fun to watch the families building together and then weaving together!  I have to say, I think we have some dads who can start a new business!!  We had so much fun and then we all learned a lot about weaving.  We had guest speakers, and lots of samples including rugs made by Marcia Gunther, a wedding mat made on the island if Kiribati in the South Pacific and a woven rug from Mexico!  Several tried their hand at making the Danish woven hearts as well.  They are easy once you learn! :)  I can't wait to see the wonderful things that the kids (and parents) make with their looms!  When you are finished, please bring it in to share or take a picture and I will put it on the blog!  The smiles on the boys and girls and parents last night said it all!

Families working together!

Young and younger, boys and girls, moms and dads had fun!

What's not to love about being given an hammer?

The parts were really fun to play with even before they were a loom!

And a game of Peek-a-boo is always fun!

Ramona even tried her hand at weaving with a hoola hoop!

Marcia Gunther brought several samples to share and lots of expertise!

Way to go, Dorothy!  You are a born weaver!

Ahhhhh...sisters!

They make great frames, too! :)

Abi got to use the cool fabric cutting machine!

We learned how to tie-off the ends of rugs or coasters.

Marcia explained about how she cuts her fabrics and uses a shuttle.

I wish I had a picture of this dad's beautiful weaving! 

Learning to braid.

A demonstration of another type of table-top loom.

:)

We have a pip!!

You can see the pip in the back egg!!  YEA!
I have more pictures and information on my personal blog:
http://www.plasekhomestead.blogspot.com/
I will post here again when we have an eaglet!  I have some facts on the blog as well!

Upcoming Building Night - Great for recycling!

I can't wait for our upcoming building night on March 27, 2012! Here are some pictures of the looms that we will be making as well as some examples of things that you can weave!  What a great way to encourage your child in reusing!  Old grocery bags make wonderful mats to put under plants!  They can make a coaster out of recycled material from an old shirt or recycled yarn from an old sweater to make a set of coasters for someone special!  If you attach many squares together, you can make a wonderful tote bag using grocery bags or recycled fabric or yarn!  The possibilities are endless!  We will have lots of samples of weaving including a wedding mat that was made for Dale and I by the women on the island of Kiribati in the south pacific!  Infact, many of the items of clothing we wear are made out of woven fabric!  I will have some maginfying glasses so that you can explore your clothes and see if you can determine if they are knit or woven!

   
**Please bring a hammer to Building Night!**

We have a limited number of kits that I put together.  If you signed up, you are guarenteed a kit.  If you would still like to come, it is on a first come, first served basis.  You can email heidi at hplasek@pp.k12.mn.us if you would like to sign up.  Again, the number is limited.  I only have about 5 extra kits.

Eagle Cam

We have been watching the Decorah, Iowa eagles in School Readiness and some of my ECFE friends have been really interested!  I thought I'd post the link as well as some still shots that I have taken via their web cam!

http://www.ustream.tv/decoraheagles

This is the male eagle sitting on 3 eggs.  The nest is 80 feet up in a cottonwood tree.

Male eagle's beak. 

Close-up of eagle feathers.

3 eagle eggs.  No pips yet!

Egg roll

Female eagle - she is panting because it is so hot.  These eagles are used to snow at this time of year.  The temperatures have been in the upper 60's and 70's.  With no leaves on the tree yet, they are sitting in direct sun. 

Family fun!

Planting the "mystery" bulb!

1 Mouse has a star.

You won't have to search too far!

Use the paint and you will see,

where the star mouse will be!

Love the tongue!  Now THAT is concentration!

You can't beat cars!

Searching for the mouse!

This week...Things Aren't What They Seem!

7 Blind Mice March 2012 (Things aren’t what they seem)	Description
Activity 1	1.   Plant a bulb – What is it?  What do you think it will be?  Parents should discuss with child (predicting, it starts looking like one thing and then turns into something different)
Activity 2	1.   Folding paper to make something Instructions will be available…let’s see if you can guess the animal!
Activity 3	Puzzles out on tables – show your child a piece of a puzzle, can they guess what the puzzle is going to be of?  How about with two pieces?
Circle Time	1.   Tooty Ta 2.   Welcome Song – Jambo 3.   Read – 7 Blind Mice 4.   Do puzzle – what do you think your piece is?  Put the puzzle together. 5.   Working together
Snack	Parent Supplies
Science Time	1.   Puzzles – show one piece at a time. 2.   What is it? Predicting skills, spatial relations, working together.

Please bring something to plant the bulb in...an old plant pot, a chipped cup, a little bowl, a plastic cup anything that will hold dirt.  Menards has biodegradable pots for 99 cents on clearnance in their garden center.  They look like plastic and come in bright colors!  If you forget or need something to plant in, I will have some small plastic cups available for you.

What can I do with a Loom???

What Can I Make With My Loom?

Mug Warmer/Can Cozy

Cell Phone Case

Mug Rug

Soap Sac

(make it out of wool and put the soap inside.  Wool is naturally antibacterial!)

iPod Case

Purse

Wallet

Make a bunch of squares and make a blanket

Make a bunch of squares and make a rug

A pencil case

Add a tie and tie it onto your belt loop for treasure hunting

Sleeping bag for dolls or action figures

Blankets for stuffed animals

Plant mat

Make a belt

Make a headband

These are just a few of the ideas that I thought of (with the help of Isabel and Carter! :) 

I would love to hear other ideas!

See you March 27 at 5:30!

Building Night!

 I am happy to announce that we have enough people signed up and we will be having Building Night.  I am ordering supplies tonight (Friday March 16) so if you didn't sign up and want to join in the fun, you need to email me asap!  We are going to have a lot of fun building a lap loom, learning about weaving from someone who is an expert at it, practice weaving using paper, making danish woven hearts (complicated but doable :) and of course having a snack that you can weave also!  Please make sure to sign up for this fun family event if you are interested! The cost is $4.00/kit.  I can't wait to see you all at building night!  March 27, 2012 5:30-7:00 in the elementary school multi purpose room!  Thank you for showing your support of this fun event!

The kits that I am making will include:
pieces to make your lap loom
yarn for weaving
yarn for the warping
long plastic weaving needle
instructions

How to Make Colored Rice!

Materials:
      * dried rice
      * food coloring
      * white vinegar
      * glass bowls
      * something to stir with
       * Tin foil
      * Cookie Sheet

Step 1 - measure out 1/2 cup of dried rice
Step 2 - place 5-7 drops of the desired color into the rice
Step 3 - pour 1/2 tsp. white vinegar into rice and dye
Step 4 - Mix WELL
Step 5 - Spread out on tin foil lined cookie sheet
Step 6 - Bake at 200 degrees for 45 minutes to remove moisture
Step 7 - Allow to cool
Step 8 - place in a container and HAVE FUN!

Tubes!

I have had some people inform me that they don't use paper towels so they can't bring a tube.  Let me give you some alternate choices:

Paper Towel Tube
Mailing Tube
Oil shipping Tube
Tin foil tube
Wrapping paper Tube
Tape 2 toilet paper tubes together
Plastic wrap tube
Parchment paper tube
Wax paper tube
Make a tube out of card stock

If you absolutely can not find a tube, let me know and I'm sure that we can locate one for you.

Building Night!

Due to a lack of donations, we either need to cancel our building night or charge for the event.  I need to find out how many people are still interested in having the building night.  The cost would be $4.00/kit.  The kit would include:  all supplies needed to build the loom, yarn, yarn needle, warping string, pattern.  The cost would also help to cover the cost of a snack.  In order to continue with the event, I need to have names and payment no later than Friday, March 16.  At that point, a decision will be made as to wether or not we have enough interest to continue.  In the event that we do not hold the event, those who had signed up will be issued a full refund.  Please email Heidi at hplasek@pp.k12.mn.us if you are interested in signing up for building night. 

Paper Towel Tubes

You will need to bring in a paper towel tube for one of our crafts next week.  We are going to make Rainsticks!

March and April

If you ever have a question as to wether or not we have class, feel free to call me or email me and I will get back to you as soon as I can. A hard copy of the dates are available to anyone who would like one. 

March 5 - 9 ECFE as usual
March 12 - 16 ECFE as usual
March 19-23 ECFE as usual
March 26 NO ECFE
March 27 - Building Night (pending)
March 30 - Make up for April 20 (Friday class only)

April 2  - MONDAY - ECFE make up class for April 9
April 3 - TUESDAY ECFE make up class for Valentine's Day
              PAC meeting will be held following this class.  If you have concerns or suggestions as to how        ECFE is going, please feel free to come to this meeting. 
April 4 - WEDNESDAY ECFE  make up class for Feb. 29 Snow day

April 9 - NO ECFE (this was originally a no school day, it is now a make up day for elementary school.  We are still NOT having ECFE on this day)

April 10-13 ECFE class as usual
April 16, 17 &18 - ECFE class as usual
April 20 NO ECFE

April 23 - Big Wheels (pending) yes, this is a monday and I am aware that we have generally had it on Tuesday.  It was decided at a PAC meeting to make a change)

April 24 - TUESDAY ONLY - ECFE Make-\up day for Feb. 28 snow day
.
If you have any questions about the schedule, feel free to email me or call me.

Building Night - Donations Needed!

Building Night is coming up on March 27!  This year we are going to be building weaving looms!  I am very excited for this project!  We are in need of donations to help cover the cost of materials.  The cost of building supplies, weaving supplies, snacks, activities speakers etc. is going to be around $300.00.  We haven't received any donations to ECFE this year and our budget is pretty tight.  Any donation that you are able to make would be greatly appreciated!  Because some of the supplies need to be ordered online, donations are welcome at anytime before our building night.  If you are able to donate toward purchasing supplies, please get that donation to Heidi ASAP.  We appreciate all of your help in allowing us to put on these quality family events! 

*That night:
Build a loom
Recieve a weaving kit (yarn, needle and warping string)
practice your patterning and weaving with paper
make a Danish woven heart
have a snack (if you have any creative "weaver" type snack ideas, please let me know! :)
We are also hoping to have a professional weaver come in and talk to us and share some of her work!

*These activities greatly depend on the amount of donations we receive.

Thank you for your support of Parkers Prairie ECFE!