Wow! Making butter really works! I could not believe how easy it was. To adapt the project for little ones, I used only one Mason jar filled with cream and we took turns shaking it. (The adults helped out as well.) For each child's turn to shake the jar, we sang a little ditty sung by many children as they churned butter in years past:
Come butter, come
Come butter, come
(Chase) is at the garden gate
Waiting with the butter plate
Come butter,come
Come butter, come
This was a very convenient way to keep track of how long each child got to shake the jar and it helped us all to learn each other's names better. The children were as amazed as I was when the little blob formed in the middle as I told them it would. I explained that the fat globules in the heavy whipping cream got disturbed and congregated together in the center of the jar after first being emulsified into whipped cream.
When we were finished reading the day's story, Winter Days in the Big Woods, we ate the butter on thick slices of homemade bread I just took out of the oven shortly before arriving at co-op. Boy, those kids sure were hungry! They even drank the leftover liquid from our butter-making processs.
During the story, I always ask them to search for a picture of a specific object which helps them to pay better attention to the pictures (my version of art appreciation for little ones). This time, I showed them a picture of a butter churn they were to look for as I was reading.
We reviewed some Scriptures on planting, sowing and orderliness and discussed the value of hard work. I bought in a basket of raw vegetables mentioned in the story (turnips, potatoes, carrots, onions) and discussed how our food comes from the earth that God created for us. We studied a picture of a couple praying over their crops and discussed how we should be thankful for God's provision for us. We talked about frost and went into the water cycle a little but my time ran out. I could have several classes based on this one book alone!
I may need to look at stretching out one book over several classes or have the parents continue through the week if they would like.
I am having much fun putting this together. E-mail me if you would like more of my lesson plans. It may be a while before I clean up my notes and get them to you but I will hold onto the e-mails.
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� Feb. 5, 2006 - Will you share?
Becky