Our First Grade Class Trip day finally arrived! We set off at about 8:30 on Wednesday morning for the Children's Museum and Como Park. We were soooooo lucky: the weather was sunny, clear, and cool - just perfect for a day away from school!
Are we there yet??
The 45 minute bus ride seemed to last forever!
Finally, we arrived at the museum and met in the Big Room for 3 main instructions: walk, stay with your adult, and have fun!
We started out on the 4th floor in the Earth World gallery.
This gallery immerses children in life-like Minnesota habitats to nurture an understanding of the natural world.
Here, the kids are trying to create a thunder storm by using steering wheels to line up huge clouds. The thunder and lightening is amazing!
This is a "touch and feel" game where the kids reach inside the boxes to touch things such as skulls, turtle shells, and animal fur and then guess what they are touching. They can lift the lids to check their answers.
The World Works gallery encourages creativity and problem-solving through investigation and experimentation. Kids can make paper, operate a crane, experiment with water power, learn about gravity, and much more.
The favorite gallery of the kids with me was Our World. This gallery connects children to people, places and cultures in their community as they role play “grown–ups” in a child-size environment filled with a neighborhood store, doctor's office, a Korean restaurant and other familiar places. Here, they are making music videos in a recording studio.
The grocery store was a big hit.
Dinner, anyone?
Look at all of these dirty dishes!
The steering wheel on this bus is so big!
Where are we going?
The doctor's office has crutches, x-rays, and examining rooms.
It's time to deliver the mail.
This cash register is kind of tricky.
They also have uniforms to try on.
The price of groceries is definitely going up!
Another favorite was face-painting. The best part about this was the kids got to put on their own make-up.
It was a little tricky since things are reversed in the mirror.
Pretty cool, huh?
Looks good!
At 11:15, our group was called to eat lunch on the floor in the Big Room. It was kind of like an indoor picnic, and were we ever hungry! After eating, we boarded the bus again and headed to Como Park to see the animals and the flowers.
The first stop was the Rainforest. What's everybody looking at?
It's a sloth, and it isn't even behind glass or in a cage. It moves so slowly!
The buffalo was very shaggy since he is shedding his winter coat.
The lions were just hanging out and relaxing.
It must have been nap time. Actually, I would have enjoyed a nap about this time, too, or at least a good cup of coffee!
It was pretty smelly in the giraffe area. It's been so cold that they are still being housed inside. We discovered they have very long purple tongues.
The flamingoes were outside, but there wasn't any water yet around Seal Island. The polar bears are also "on vacation" at the Detroit Zoo while the whole bear exhibit is being redone.
After seeing all the animals, we headed to the Conservatory to see the beautiful flowers.
We're almost as tall as the fence! Stretch!
My favorite area at the zoo is the Japanese Gardens. We only had about 10 minutes to check it out. The girls with me loved it!
What a beautiful spot!
We all gathered back at the bus at 1:30 for a group shot before the return trip back to school. It was a perfect day!
Time to board the bus.
The kids weren't quite so lively on the ride home, and many slept.
These guys look a bit different than in the first picture!
A good time was had by all, and the kids asked me if we can go on a trip again next week. Maybe not....
Most of them seemed to like the Children's Museum the best, so if you have a free day this summer, head to St. Paul and check it out! They will certainly discover even more fun things when they can explore and investigate on their own.
Thanks to all the parents who helped out, and also to those of you who volunteered but couldn't come along. I'd love to take everyone, but our bus space is limited - we were packed with 3 people to a seat!
Thanks, kids, for being on your best behavior! I was very proud of all of you!
We left school at about 9:00 and set off for the 6-block walk to my house. The kids were very excited - for some reason, first graders love to see where their teacher lives!
Once there, the kids played "duck duck gray duck" in my front yard.
Then we had a popsicle treat.
The hit at my house was the stray cat that's been hanging around. He is so friendly! The kids really laughed when he poked his head into the empty popsicle box.
He really wanted a taste of those yummy popsicles. He wandered around the circle making friends with everyone.
Mmmmmmm, good!
After finishing our treat, we headed to the park, where we had a chance to play. 
It was fun to check out some different playground equipment....
Hang on!
Don't let go!
Pump hard....
Wow! Up to the tree-tops!
Future first graders! These two will be in kindergarten in the fall. They came along with a "helper Mom, " and they had no trouble keeping up with the big kids. Way to go, girls, and thanks for encouraging stragglers at the rear of the the line, Mom!
