Grey Squirrels, March 8

Grey Squirrels were a happy, busy bunch today... they built forts in trees, they worked on projects in the tool circle; we had spoons, wooden knives and inlay decorative planks in the making. They played games eg. "where's my dinner"; a sneaking and freezing exercise in impulse control and being observant, and they enjoyed a little taste of Australia.

Welcoming back Ms Megan we discussed where Australia is and used an Atlas to compare the location of Calgary, Canada and Adelaide, Australia. Questions about what is a continent and if Australia was in Canada were raised and led to some sharing of collective knowledge.

We enjoyed a charming story "Possum Magic" by Mem Fox, a favourite Australian classic, and the children were enchanted by a visit from our possum puppet friend. This possum stimulated discussion about the differences between squirrels and possums, the function of the tail and what a predator is.

Inspired by the 'people food' that made Hush become visible in the story, we feasted on pavlova and Vegemite sandwiches, some Aussie favourites. The former was extremely popular, the latter, not so much.. :-) Many requests to give moms the pavlova recipe were heard, so here goes:

- meringue base (meringue nests)...you can find these at Superstore

- whipped cream

- fruit salad...especially nice with some passionfruit included.

...enjoy!