Spring is well and truly happening and Room 13 is getting into the spring spirit. We are growing plants for the Butterfly Garden.
Room 13 and Room 10 are in charge of caring for the Butterfly Garden. We grow plants that attract butterflies and bees and birds.

The Swan plants took a loooong time to germinate. Our estimates of the time they would take to germinate were all wrong. They took more than a month! and not a lot of them sprouted.

But we will have enough to plant in the butterfly garden when they are big enough, and they will attract monarch butterflies. 

We planted a sunflower that Lulu brought to school.

Sarah brought some calendula seeds and they sprouted on our deck over the school holidays. We planted them in the Butterfly Garden as well.

Swan plants

We collected some swan plant seeds from some plants we saw below our deck on the bank.

Here they are in their seed pods.

We got some peat pots and filled them with potting mix.

We carefully sorted out the swan plant seeds and planted them in our pots.

We put our name on our pot.

Here are our pots sitting on the window sill in the sun. Their seeds are germinating.

We put the left over seeds into a potting tray and left it on the deck for the sun and the rain to germinate the seeds.

 How long with the seeds take to germinate? We have written our guesses on a chart. How long do YOU think they will take? Send us a comment and let us know what your estimate is.

Wheat-heads

Wheat-heads

You might have noticed two little faces peering out Room 13's window. They are not children!! They are Jack and Lizzie, two wheat-heads. They are cousins of Peter and Bella who used to be in Room 5.

Here they are - Jack (on the left) and Lizzie when they were only a few days old. Can yo see their hair starting to grow?

Wow! Only a week later and look at these green-haired wheat-heads! 

They are fun to watch and very easy to make. Here's how:

How to make a wheat-head person

You will need:

Cheesecloth or some soft cloth with a wide weave so the wheat can grow through. (You can buy it cheaply from David's Emporium).

Sphagnum moss (from a garden centre)

Wheat (I get mine from the supermarket but its in a big bag for chicken food so if you talk to Miz Jones she might give yo a small amount).

Rubber bands

Eyes (either draw them on or buy some from Spotlight or David's Emporium) You can also draw on the mouth.

A glass or jar for the wheat-head to sit in.

How to make the wheat-head:

Lay out a square of cheesecloth and put a handful of wheat in the middle.
Put a fistful of sphagnum moss on top of tie it up in a roughly head shape.
Put the rubber band round the neck.
Pull bit out for ears and nose and tie with rubber bands.
Stick or draw eyes and a mouth onto the face of your wheat-head.
Moisten it and fill a glass or jar of water.
Put wheat-head into the jar of water.

That's it! Easy peasy!
If the head flops you can make a cardboard or plastic collar for it.
I have a spray bottle of water to give it a shower each morning.

They need sun and warmth and plenty of conversation.

Welcome to Room 13s blog!

Lucky Room 13 is back in business! We are a brand new class of learners. We have a wonderful classroom with its very own deck that makes us feel like birds looking down on the world. We can see Totara team, the adventure playground, and we can see town across the river.

Its spring and we are surrounded by flowering cherry trees which are full of birds.

There are lots of little silver-eyes sipping nectar from the flowers.

Maee found a little silver-eye nest.

We found out that silver-eyes are called Tauhou which means 'stranger'. They flew here from Australia so they aren't actually native birds.

Watch this space...

A new New Entrant class is opening in Room 13 on 6th August, 2012. Ms Jones will be the teacher. Watch this space to meet the children of Room 13 and share their learning.