We have lift off! ......or 'germination' in plant terminology! Luca D.S., Mateo, Lorenzo, Jasmin, Rina, Benjamin, Santiago, Riccardo, Carolina, Romano and Elliot, your plants have started to grow! But that doesn't mean the rest of you are out of the race - sometimes the toughest plants take more time to start the growing process, so keep watching this space every 2 weeks to find out who's in the lead.
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We loved having the kindergarten kids from Marymount at the Hazelhut today! What an enthusiastic and smart group of children!  They listened carefully to instructions and categorised 5 plants - mint, strawberry, pea, orchid and hazelnut as herb, fruit, vegetable, flower and tree respectively. They didn't even make one error! Next we went off to find these same 5 plants in the Hazelhut grounds.  We looked in the herb garden to find the mint.  Then found the strawberries in the strawberry patch.  The peas were easy to spot!  Then we headed into the woodlands to find the hazel tree and the wild orchids! We even found some of last year's chestnuts!  By the time we returned, everyone was very hungry! Definitely lunch time!  After lunch the children chose a plant category to represent as a googley-eyed character. While some got creative, others played on the pitch.....  ....and in the trees!  Then we had to say 'Goodbye!' Well done for all your great learning and super behaviour, kindergarten! You are welcome back anytime!  It was great to welcome Marymount grade 3 students to the Hazelhut today to learn more about plants. The day started with learning each others' names. There were 33 students to get to know!  Then the students were given some plant samples and sent into the grounds to find the original plants and mark them on a map. They were very enthusiastic and looking at the maps, very accurate!  Then the students had a snack and some much needed water!!!!   Then they got into teams and tried to think up as many uses as possible for plants - one team thought of 10 different uses and as a whole team we came up with 18!  Next we headed to the vegetable patch to try some of the fresh foods on offer there - everyone wanted to try the strawberries, but not many were ready. The students were very open-minded and good at taking risks..... between them they tried rocket leaves, mustard leaves, radish, peas, fava beans and even marigold petals!!!    Everyone was suddenly very hungry, so we all tucked into our lunch!  After lunch the children enjoyed the wide open countryside and the football pitch. Then they decorated a plant pot ready for the famous sunflower competition!   James and Nicola helped them plant their seeds.   Then all too soon it was time to say 'Goodbye!' Don't forget to check this blog and find out whose sunflower grows the tallest!!!!  It was great to welcome back the students from St. Thomas's third grade! They have grown so much and are definitely more knowledgeable than when we last met. This time they were learning all about water, so we decided to look at some of the fun things which can be done with water. The first area we looked at was science and this included imploding cans, water pressure magic and flaming water bubbles!   Next we looked at using water to play games - this included 'Sink the Ship' and the much loved game of 'Splat!'.   After all that running around we were ready for lunch and one of the most fun uses of water - ice pops!!!!  In the afternoon we put our CDT (craft, design and technology) thinking hats on for a boat competition with 5 criteria: Is it 15cm long? Can it carry the weight of 4 rubber balls? Will it sail across a tub of water? Is it boat like and is it attractive?   The students took many risks and used their knowledge by trying and testing their boats but time ran away from us and all too soon the bus was here......  We just had time to judge each boat, but didn't find out who the winner was! The truth is you are all winners as you all worked very hard and played hard and we would welcome you back to the Hazelhut whenever!!!  Yesterday we welcomed 7 children under 8 to the Hazelhut for a day of activities. The first thing we did was to make some biscuit dough.  Then we headed outside to meet the animals and have a walk.   Some of the children enjoyed picking flowers.  Soon it was time for lunch and everyone wanted to have a picnic! So we lit the camp fire, just like with the big kids!   Then we made a jigsaw to take home.   Soon it was time to burn off all that energy with some parachute games!   Then we finished decorating our gingerbread men, ready to take home.   The sun came out, so we went for another walk to see if we could get enough elderflowers to make a cordial: we were a bit early, but had lots of fun looking at all the plants and trees.  Before the mums and dads came, there was time for us all to enjoy a sing song and to play some of the instruments!  We have an under 8's week planned from 24th - 28th August and our under 8's Christmas activity day is 6th December. Please contact us if you would like your child to take part!
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