Brain Day

A little over a week ago was "Brain Day" for all of the fourth-graders. Kiera was so excited, and I just thought, "Well, have fun - but be sure to wash your hands before you come home." But then the parents got invited to attend too. We all thought Quentin would enjoy it much more than me, but he couldn't get time off work - so it was me who got to go. I was happy to be with Kiera, even though I wasn't thrilled about seeing brains.

So...first of all the kids had "Brain Food" - apples, veggies, trail mix...and a jello molded to look like a brain. How lovely.

Then we got to spend time doing "Brain Puzzles" before we actually got to see the brains. Yep, real sheep brains. Whoever wanted to touch them could put on gloves and pick them up, rub them, feel them...just not poke their fingers through them. (Doesn't that put a nice image in your head?!) Kiera was brave - and actually excited - to touch it. She said it wasn't as slimy as she thought it would be, and I think it looked quite a bit like Spam. Ugh. But it was fun to hear some of the students point out the pituitary glad or other parts of the brain that they've been learning about. I guess that's what it's all about.

After that, we got to watch a PowerPoint presentation about different optical illusions. It brought me back to my college days when I studied psychology and took a class on perception. So fascinating!!