first class

Ever since he turned 3 and was old enough to start taking classes, I've offered Zoo Boy the opportunity to do so. "No thank you" he'd always say. "I'll do it when I'm 5." Over the past two years, he's steadily maintained that he'll start taking classes when he turned 5. So as we approached his birthday, I asked if he still wanted to take classes when he's 5, and he said yes. I helped him browse the museum class brochure, and he picked out a few that sounded interesting to him. (Actually, he would have signed up for them all given the chance, but I wasn't quite convinced he's let me drop him off at a class and leave, so I hedged my bets and kept it to just one class every other week.) Yesterday was his first class -- "Big, Bouncing Bunnies", and he cheerfully bid me farewell as he took his place on the carpet square in the circle. He LOVED it. (That's him in the back row, white shirt with blue sleeves.) When the class was over, he told me all about it, then added "I LOVE being 5!"

J had a class on rabbits too (called "Rascally Rabbits") later on in the afternoon. (He's the boy standing right next to the teacher.) In both classes they made "bunny poop" (they melted marshmallows and stirred cocoa puffs into it -- looked alarmingly realistic, actually....). Needless to say, my boys didn't eat it. But despite the way it looked, it was pretty tasty.

Since we were at the museum all afternoon, we took a break from playing and learning to have a snack on the "park bench". There are picnic tables in the yard outdoors, but it was just too chilly for an outdoor snack yesterday. The kids thought eating in the museum was a great treat.

Between classes, the kids took part in a puppet-making activity. J also attended a short program on hedgehogs while Zoo Boy was in class. And while J was in class, Zoo Boy listened in on a story about a fish (but then declined to color his own fish shape, I think he'd had enough organized activity for one day). And of course there was lots of playing in the exhibits in between all the activities and programs. Made for a nice, full afternoon for us!

After completing their puppets, the kids were allowed to play with the puppet theater on the stage for awhile. (A real treat!) J named his puppet "Jimmy", while Zoo Boy named his "Me". They put on a couple of amusing puppet shows with the other puppet-makers, then let their storyline spill out into the museum.

Definitely a successful first class for Zoo Boy! He's already asking when his next class is.