The afternoon Starlight children always look forward to weekly story times with Ms. Maria. A current favorite is Spookley by Joe Troiano. This topical tale follows Spookley, a square-shaped pumpkin who, during a blustery autumn storm, protects his rounder pumpkin pals from rolling down the hill into danger. The Starlight students each had the opportunity to decorate their own pumpkins, using paint, glitter, googly eyes and more. Be sure to check out our display at Magic Garden’s hallway literacy tree! To culminate this experience, the girls and boys helped design, stuff and assemble our own Spookley scarecrow! Boo! Complete with a square head and bedazzled clothes, Spookley can be seen greeting patrons at the Concord Public Library’s Scarecrow Festival lawn display. Coming up: preparations for Magic Garden’s annual Friendship Fest!

Our Twilight friends enjoy exploring Magic Garden’s gorgeous campus. Inevitably, the girls and boys end up collecting treasures along the way. They return to the classroom with pocketfuls of acorns, rocks, leaves and other items. This natural, hand-on learning prompted a special meeting time experience. First, the students listened to Leaf Man by Lois Elhert. This book is filled with images composed completely of nature artifacts. Our Twilight crew then embarked on a scavenger hunt. Each child was given a checklist, clipboard and pencil so they could be “nature detectives.” Some items included pine cones, wildflowers and winged maple seeds. Later, the students utilized their treasures to create collage scenes, using sticky contact paper. Fun!