Amazing Snowflakes
Since we weren’t likely to get any actual snow in December, we made our own blizzard from paper! We learned to fold and cut paper to make six-sided snowflakes, talked about how snowflakes form, and looked at some photos of real snow crystals take by Vermont farmer William Bentley in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Exploring Cotton
Cotton is an amazing plant! We took a virtual field trip through a cotton field with photos and talked about the plant’s life cycle and all the many uses of its fibers. We also enjoyed playing with cotton balls. 
Airplane Fun
We had a great time exploring the history of flight, discussing what makes an airplane fly, and making and experimenting with our own paper airplanes.
Games of the World
We enjoyed a morning of hands-on history learning about games from several different continents and share interesting facts about the people and cultures that originated them. We learned about the history of the games and spent some time playing bocce, cricket, and hanetsuki.
Poetry Fun
We had a great time sharing our favorite books of poetry this month at book club. Shel Silverstein was a popular choice, and we even had one poem presented in song with guitar accompaniment! After reading our poems, we enjoyed playing some word association and rhyming games.
Chasing Rainbows
This month’s meeting was all about rainbows! We looked at pictures of different types of rainbows, learned what makes a rainbow and talked about different places we’ve seen rainbows. Luckily, it was a sunny day, so we were even able to make some rainbows of our own with a glass of water, a mirror and a sheet of white paper.
Hippo Fun
Another great day at the zoo with our friends! We loved watching the baby bison race around North America and the baby Siamang ape swinging and playing. The biggest thrill of the day was finally getting a good look at the elusive pygmy hippo. He was out running across the pasture and grazing with the antelope. What a treat!
Berry Farm Tour
This month we got out early to try and beat the heat for our berrying adventure. A huge thank you to Barber Berry Farm for giving us a tour of their fields and teaching us about hydroponics. We also enjoyed picking and eating their delicious berries!
Gardening Day!
One of our members was nice enough to invite us to her home for a day of gardening. We enjoyed learning about all the fruits and vegetables growing in her garden, and the kids each created their own terrariums to take home.
Spotty Dog Fun
This month, we all read The Hundred and One Dalmatians by Dodie Smith. Many of the kids had never read the book, and were more familiar with the Disney version, so we enjoyed comparing the original story to the movies. We also brought some stuffed Dalmatians and the kids pretended to be the characters from the book, with Cruella and the Badduns stealing and hiding the puppies and Pongo and Missis leading the search and rescue mission.
