My Family

It was another busy day making traces of the Fall, taking Maryna’s ballet class and going for a walk in the neighborhood.

This morning, we finished our art project and we are excited to see how our art works will turn out! At the same table, there was a tray with still objects: pine cones, acorns, lotus roots, part of turnips and different shaped leaves. There were also trays of paint: orange, green and brown. We first chose a pine cone or an acorn and dipped it in some paint. Then we dropped it inside a tray with a piece of paper on the bottom. It was like marble painting rolling the pine cone and it made these funny tracks on the paper. We could also stamp with the other objects. For example, when you pressed a sliced lotus root onto a paper, it made a circle with lots of holes in it and when you used the top of a turnip, it made a flower pattern! There are seeds, leaves, fruits and vegetables that you can only find in the Fall and it is fun to collect them and make something out of them!

On another table, there were bean bags and few were curious how to play with them so for a starter, John demonstrated by tossing them in the air and catching them in his hands. In Japanese we call them “otedama” the older generations used to make them out of old kimono cloth and stuffed dried azuki beans inside and were creative in their plays since they didn’t have many toys. The carpet area was also busy with the blocks. One friend was building a tall tower when another friend came over and knocked it down. Of course, sometimes breaking can be more fun than building but Nimo wanted to explain how it is not okay to break something that your friend(s) was making without asking. It is important to remember to respect the works of others and be able to put yourself into someone else’s shoes.

We had an extended ballet class with Maryna and we were so busy! There is one that we all love which is the Scarecrow dance which starts with a sleeping position and some of us were lying on the floor getting ready for the dance as soon as we heard the song. The next moment, we jump in the air and shake our arms and legs! We also enjoyed a dance called the Tiki Tiki Room turning into birds in the tropical forest! Oh how we loved the ‘bonus’ Baby Shark Dance in the end! “Baby shark doo doo doo…”

After snack time, we had our circle time just before we went out for a walk. Nanako showed us her family through Una’s Life Book then she took out five figurines and pointed each saying, “So here are Nanako, David, Luka, Una and Noah.” Then she asked if some of our friends would like to show their family. Some of us thought very hard choosing the right figurines that represented themselves, mommies and daddies. We also read a book called The Very Worst Monster which was about a sister monster proving herself to be the worst monster in the world when everybody else in the family were too busy thinking the baby brother being the worst monster. Afterall we may all want to be special but it is a learning process for anyone with an addition or sometimes a loss in the family.

Thank you again for another beautiful day! Love from Buds ;)