This week was filled with adventure, creativity, and so much joyful exploration. With nature offering us endless invitations, the children spent their days imagining, creating, and discovering together.

Out in the yard, we were deeply engaged with one of the most abundant natural materials of the season — leaves. They made leaf piles, leaf angels, and even “leaf confetti.” At one moment, Graham excitedly announced, “Let’s all collect 200 leaves!” sparking a shared mission with classmates deciding if the pile needed “more” or if they finally had “enough.”

The children also used leaves to inspire storytelling and creativity, suggesting different animals that could be formed using leaf shapes — including a duck — echoing the whimsical spirit of the beloved book Leaf Man. Moments like these reminded us how nature itself can be a powerful tool for imaginative play.

Alongside the leaf investigations, children used paint sticks on large cardboard boxes, discovering how simple materials can become anything with enough imagination. Some turned the box into a canvas, others into a structure, and others into a space to share ideas. Their creativity transformed a plain box into a world of possibility.

Zoe brought new inspiration to our leftover pumpkins from Halloween. Together, the class opened one pumpkin and explored everything about it — the smell, the texture, the colors. Some children described the inside as “slimy,” while Eli observed, “It looks like it has hair on the inside!” The children also eagerly tried counting how many seeds they could find.

We then brought the pumpkin into the classroom’s sensory table, offering water scoops and cleaned yogurt cups to help collect and rinse the seeds. With a mix of baking soda and purple-tinted vinegar, we turned our pumpkin into a pumpkin volcano. The class watched closely as it bubbled and erupted, sharing their observations. Jonas offered an exciting description: “It’s sizzling.”

One of the most anticipated moments of the week was our Neighborhood Nature Animal Visit. We began with a classroom countdown and shared predictions — some hoping for a panda or even a giraffe!

With gentle “one-finger touches,” soft voices, and still bodies, the children met

Prebbles the Box Turtle,

Swirl the Bunny,
and Thayer the Arizona Mountain King Snake.

We learned about the variety of animals that can be found right in our own neighborhoods and parks, exploring what a hard shell feels like, what soft fur invites, and what wet, cool scales are like. The visit sparked so much curiosity and care as the children asked questions and shared their own experiences with animals.