One of our clubs this last eight weeks is called Bubble-icous! This club in entirely made up of different ways and techniques to blow a bubble. In our club, the bubble solution is just simply soap and water, but this combination makes great bubbles that everyone seems to enjoy.

According to Wikipedia, “A soap bubble is a very thin film of soapy water that forms a sphere with an iridescent surface. Soap bubbles usually last for only a few moments before bursting, either on their own or on contact with another object.” In most cases the ‘other object’ is a student having fun in the club, popping all the bubbles he or she can in the fastest amount of time.

When watching the club, it’s very contagious to want to pop the bubbles right alongside of the kids. Children have been blowing bubbles for fun as far back as 400 years ago. Today, they are still a simple object that children create and then frantically destroy.

On April 30th, 2010, Prairie Trace ESE celebrated Arbor Day as a wonderful Site Celebration. Children, parents and staff, came together to celebrate this day as it was intended to be celebrated, by planting a tree. Arbor Day originated in the United States in 1872 by J. Sterling Morton in Nebraska City, Nebraska.

The staff started around 2:45 digging the hole big enough for our Red Sunset Red Maple. Once it was time for the actual site celebration to start, we had all the kids help us either put the dirt back into the hole with the tree or go retrieve water with buckets. All of the kids worked very well as a team. The diggers took turns using the shovels or their hands to replace the dirt. The water getters took several kids to carry a bucket back to the tree, but it was a great sight to see!

Once the tree was planted, the kids had the opportunity to paint and plant their very own flower to take home with them. Many children loved being able to work with the dirt and not worry about getting dirty. Once it was time to eat, we got everyone to wash their hands to eat the dinner that everyone, staff and parents, had helped prepare. Everyone got to enjoy the tastes of each other’s cooking.

In the cafeteria, the staff had painted fun facts about different trees for the parents and kids to enjoy while eating their dinner. Overall, it was a great experience with the students, and we will definitely be having another family oriented site celebration as soon as we can. I want to thank all of the parents and staff that helped out with Arbor Day; without you guys, it wouldn’t have been possible! Thank you!