Corinn's field trip to the children's museum...

Tuesday, i went with Corinn's kindergarten class on a field trip to the Harrisonburg Children's Museum...i've been there so many times already, but it never gets old...each year, they change it up a bit & are always adding something new

Corinn is quite the mama's girl...on the bus, she wanted only to sit with me - not her friends...just me! can't say i minded that ;0)

1st, they learned about water...how important it is to the earth & ways to conserve it...how the water that the kiddos take a bath in, may very well be the same water a dinosaur bathed in!

then it was play time! Corinn & her friend headed straight for the face painting area...but strangely enough, Corinn put on a little make up, then immediately wiped it off? guess she just wasn't in the mood

there are so many fun pretend areas at the museum...an ice cream stand...

the market...

& Corinn's very fav - the kitchen! ;0)

i found that Corinn is actually quite different than Gabrielle when it comes to how she went about playing at the museum...on Gabby's trip last year, she & her friends went at lightning speed - running from one activity to the next - with little regard as to what i was doing...i just followed along to observe & snap pics

but Corinn took her time...she would stop & really enjoy playing at each area...if there was another kid there, she'd engage them in her play...but if not, she didn't mind...she still took her time to fully enjoy each activity...& she involved me! here, she's waiting for me to take her pic, so that then i could sit down & race her around VA ;0)
(there's a board in front of these stationary bikes - different cities around VA light up in ur color as u pedal thru them...btw, Corinn won!)

this huge Operation game was my favorite...what a neat idea!

Corinn saw Rosie the tarantula & asked if we could get one ~lol~ yeah right!

after play time, Corinn's class gathered in the museum's little classroom to learn more about water...this time, they learned about what floats & what sinks...after the demonstration, they had to use what they had just learned to make a boat

just like last year when i went with Gabby, i was surprised at how many parents insisted on "helping" the kiddos make their boats...of course, i helped Corinn if she couldn't reach the tape or needed more supplies...& i talked with her about her design & what she thought would work best...even gave her some suggestions

but honestly, what fun is it for them, if you make their boat? telling them what they should do to make it float? why not let them have complete control over what they're creating? let them actually learn something from the experience!

but hey, that's just me

Corinn did a fabulous job on her own! she used what she had just learned to make a boat that i was sure would indeed float...AND she made a cool sail/cover for it too! ;0)

then it was time to test all the boats out...

SUCCESS!

all on her own!
;0)

& in classic Skates kiddo fashion, Corinn passed out almost as soon as we got on the bus...i'm not quite sure why my kiddos (well, the girls anyway) can't stay awake when they're in a moving vehicle?

after returning to the school, i was able to stay & have lunch with Corinn too...then they immediately got to go home! it's exam week for the high schoolers, so the whole county is on 1pm release this week...& even off school tomorrow!

we're also supposed to get a "wintry mix" this afternoon, going into tomorrow at 1pm...just when i thought all the snow was finally gonna disappear, here we go again! i'm so ready for spring!!!