Helping Out Diego

           Who is Diego, you might ask? Well, he’s a friend that came over to Petals class!

         ”Hello Petals class!” Diego said happily. “My name is Diego! I love animals. Do you like animals?” he asked. We all giggled excitedly and replied, “Yes!”

“What is your favorite animal?” Diego asked us.

“Penguin,” L said with a smile.

“Gorilla!” H said enthusiastically.

“I like lions!” Z said happily.

“Ah… lion!” A agreed.

“Lion,” Y also said.

“I like sharks,” S said.

“I like cats,” H said. “I like baby cats.”

“Dogs,” D said.

“Dinosaurs!” A said with a big grin.

“Cat,” S said.

“Shark!” U said.

Now, Diego explained to us that his animal friends were lost. They had a big animal party and now they need help to find their way home.

“Can you help me?” Diego asked.

“I can help the animals get home,” H volunteered. All of us helped to put the animals into their own home: the ocean, house, jungle, and farm. But, Diego noticed that there were some animals that were misplaced– like the baby tiger in the farm.

“Well, the baby tiger can stay in the farm… but once it grows older… Do you know what tigers eat?” Pauline asked. We shook our heads no.

“Meat. So it eats other animals…” Pauline trailed off.

“We need to put it in the jungle so it won’t eat the farm animals,” H said. He’s right– plus there is a big, big space in the jungle for the tigers to run in and hunt for other animals.

Another animal out of place was the zebra. It was in the farm, but—

“It’s in the pond,” S joked, and we all laughed. Pauline pretended that the zebra was swimming around in the pond with the tadpoles and the water scorpion. The zebra belonged in a savanna, which Pauline said she will discuss some other time.

The cheetah was also in the farm, and Pauline said that they have the same diet as the tiger. We voted to put the cheetah and its mommy in the jungle. But, like the zebra, they also live in the savanna.

The crab was also in the farm. But most of us said that it lives in the water. Diego helped us put it back in the ocean.

“How about Diego? Where can he go home?” Pauline asked.

“Next to the farm,” S said.

“So he can see the animals,” Z added.

“Let’s put him in the pond,” Pauline teased, and she pretended Diego was swimming around in the pond.

“Noooooo!” We all protested.

“He can go in the house,” H suggested. He took Diego and lay him on the bathtub– maybe Diego was tired from helping his animal friends find their way home that he needs a good, warm bath!

Diego thanked us all for helping, and he said that we did a great job. Now, all his animal friends were happy.

We were not able to go to the park because we thought that it was going to rain anytime soon. Instead, we played “The Floor is Lava”, where the floor was safe while the music played. When it stops, then the floor turns into lava, and we all need to get on the tactile path. The person who falls into the lava is out of the game. It seemed easy at first but Pauline was shuffling between playing and pausing the song so fast, it was getting trickier to keep our balance on the tactile path!

Free play time was all about finishing our DIY plant on the table (Alexander, Lynn, and Hiori volunteered to add lots of flowers), sorting our counters into the same colors, and playing with our blocks with Kai at the back of the room. After we cleaned up, our teachers talked about the Setsubun happening tomorrow. An oni might come visit us tomorrow, or the next day, and Sayaka is going to help us make some beans or mame that we can use to throw (gently) at the oni and say “Oni wa soto (Oni go away)! Fuku wa uchi (Good luck, come inside)! Sayaka showed us some oni masks, and we’re excited for Setsubun!

That’s all for the first day of this week– how about you? How was your day?

Love,

All the helpful little bunnies in Petals Class