Big news here in the MacWands' classroom today as we prepared for our mission to supply Gnorm with a care package. It took a few days to collect the items we had brainstormed that Gnorm would need out there in the stump. We added to our original list considering the change in weather.
We laid the items out to ensure we had everything. Ask your child if they can list the items we put inside. (There was quite the variety!)
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| Gnorm's Care Package |
After lunch we set out with sticks in hand, the care package and the drill. The children remembered exactly where Gnorm was and headed straight for the stump. A quick photo verified that Gnorm was still there but a little snowy.
At the stump we prepared to drill the hole so we could talk to Gnorm and maybe even catch a glimpse of him. We wanted to drill the hole on the side facing away from the path so we wouldn't draw attention to the stump, but the wood was just too thick. The only reasonable place to drill was too far up for us to see Gnorm anyway.
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| Drilling on the leeside of the tree first. |
The children suggested I start again on the side facing the path. Based on the sound we heard when knocking on the tree, we decided that this side was thinner and we could drill lower down. We carefully removed a large piece of bark and I started to drill. Gnorm was given lots of reassurance by the children because the drill made some loud and funny noises.
Drilling on the thinner side.
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| This is when the children were either cheering me on or reassuring Gnorm. |
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| Drat! The tree was just too thick for our hole saw bit. |
We'll have to go to plan B. (I think we'll try a spade bit instead.)
We carefully put the piece of bark back to camouflage our hole and decided to sings some songs to Gnorm for some entertainment.
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| Serenading Gnorm |
Then it was time for the main event - delivering the care package. Inside the package was a tiny book for Gnorm titled "A Hole in the Tree" (how fitting...) We decided to read it to him first. Then Jodie carefully dropped the package down the stump. We heard a satisfying plop.
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| Sending down the care package. |
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| Mission Complete! |
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| Singing the Goodbye Song to Gnorm and giving his stump a little pat. |
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It was a tough mission! A little nap on the way back was in order.
Stay tuned for our next mission... |
