Water...

I have a theory.

I imagine that world peace would emerge if we had enough water to drink, as well as play in!

Well, probably not, but it's a nice thought.

It's actually a thought that stemmed from a rather difficult day, for both the children and myself. We were just not on the same page. There are days like that, it's completely normal. I was just not myself, and the children just seemed to sense that, and were really pushing my buttons. Hmmm, let me rephrase that, because I was probably pushing their buttons. They were laughing and having a great time, aside from a few moments of tension amongst the children. It was me.... completely me... I will stand up and say it was me! I was just not feeling the excitement of the sunny and warm weather, and just wasn't in it. So when the children were happily playing and moving about the outdoor classroom, I just found myself kiboshing their fun. It was not intentional, I just wanted 'an easy day.' Try as I might I just couldn't get them to just 'take it easy'. Of course not, what was I thinking? They weren't doing anything untoward, they were merrily playing, and exploring. They were taking risks, they were creating their own fun, they were PLAYING!!!

So I had to shake myself out of this funk.

That's when the water came out.

For no other reason than I needed something to play with myself. Something I could engage in, that would bridge the tension between the children and I. Out came the water tables, and the water, and suddenly the world just settled into place. Similar to my theory.

The tension was gone, the nagging stopped, the laughter continued. The children that were engaged in play already, continued their play, but I found something that 'calmed me nerves', and motivated me to get down and dirty with the children and have fun.

I guess the overall message is, if you're finding yourself nagging and annoyed.... just pull up your britches, and PLAY!!!! I think that on a small scale we saw the solutions to the world's problems.... just PLAY!!!

FUNK.... BE GONE!!!!

And we're back

Last week we had all taken a collective holiday. A time to spend with our families and a time to regroup. We've come back and quickly adjusted back into the swing of things, and everyone has been so excited to share their adventures. It's been lovely to hear of all the swimming, hiking, playing and relaxing that the children engaged in over the course of the week, and for many, a few times here and there over the summer. It's especially wonderful to hear that they enjoyed their time with their families!

Not much had changed while we were away, well, perhaps a few more weeds have grown, the grass grew a bit taller, and the children, I promise, even grew a bit taller. But we were quick to notice the change in our veggie garden. One major change is our cucumber patch! It's overtaken our garden, but has blessed us with an abundance of cukes. Cucumbers of which we plucked right off the vine, gave them a little wash and instantly started munching down on them. We quickly discovered that there were enough cucumbers for us each to enjoy at least one.

I wanted to share this before we left for the summer, but I didn't get to it, so I thought i'd share it now. It's funny how right away the children jumped back in and started up this project where they left off. Our new sand pit is home to a rainbarrel that has provided up with so much joy and wonderful opportunities of discover, so it's inevitable that a stream was soon to follow.

As you can see in the videos, the children were trying to block and divert the stream. This has naturally transitioned into a closer look into dams, and river flow. The children are discovering terms such as inlets, and erosion, and islands, and bays, and lakes. Yet another thing we learn through play. It should be interesting to see where this project takes us. 

Water Balloons

What can you do with left over water balloons? Here's a start:

AND WE STILL HAVE MORE!!!!

Boats

I just love the innocence of this photo and had to share it. On our way to our latest adventure.

Last time we took a trip to the forest we went exploring in the stream and two things happened. One: we hadn't had rain in a while, so the stream had dried up. Two: a homeowner yelled at the children through her window telling the children to stay away from her fence. That was embarrassing to say the least... especially since we weren't anywhere near her fence, plus her home backs onto a public green space!

This time around we decided to keep away from that area of the forest and knowing that it had rained quite a bit the last couple days, there was a pretty good chance that there would be water. Since the children eagerly race towards the stream each time we visit the forest, I wanted to ensure that the children stayed in one area of the stream (away from THAT end of the stream), so I brought along some styrofoam trays a grandparent had so graciously donated.

We quickly discovered that, although there had been quite a bit of rain, the stream did not hold as much water as we thought, and the 'boats' just kind of sat in the water. Not to worry though, it was neat to try out different areas, and to scoop the water with the trays... seriously, these children don't let anything stop them!

In the process we found ourselves soaked to the bone and loving every moment!

Some children tested out their boats with cargo to see if they could float as well 

In the end we discovered that nature has it's own way of making boats, we found a large cluster of pine needles that were able to float down the stream, this caused a lot of observing and a need to go collect our own needle boats... natural is always a better way anyhow! 

Those trays we useful in so many ways that day, and became a great carrying tray to bring forest treasures back to our school!

Woodsy Wanderings

Every spare moment after the children head home i've been busy outside, taking advantage of every ounce of the sunny weather to get going on our outdoor classroom. It's been a lot of fun, and a lot of hard work, but oh so rewarding! Point is, there may be days that we're not posting, but the effort will be made, let's hope it gets done!

Here's a photo journey of our latest forest explorations. We decided to follow the stream to see where it led to. It was a great way for some of our 'newer' walkers to hone those skills. It was hard work... even I struggled (mostly because I kept getting trapped by the blackberry bushes). We headed back to the school wet and well satisfied that we had gone on a real adventure!

 

The forest is quickly becoming the number one destination of excitement. Next up, barefoot wading!

Nature's Playground

*Just a disclaimer... my batteries in my camera were dying, so some photos are a little blurry.*

Earlier in the week we took a trek out to our local forest. This is a new experience for some of the children, and of course part of walking in the forest is exploring and discovering hidden gems, and that's just what we did.

The younger children worked very hard to keep up with the big guys, and they made a valiant effort, because the big guys found something awesome!

Of course sticks picked up along the way are always part of the trip!

Also part of the exploration is discovering new things and being curious about these new things.

This tree was COVERED with fungus. I don't know who was more interested, me or the children.

At the end of the path that we explored was a little wooden bridge, underneath we found a little stream.

Climbing over those fallen logs proved a challenge for the smaller children. Of course part of the reason I love exploring the forest with the children, is that it helps them to be aware of the uneven ground, and develops their gross motor muscles without them even knowing it! This is a weekly trip for us, so I foresee the younger children leaping over the fallen logs before too long.

A little further down the stream was a lush green area, also accompanied by a bridge, and some natural 'waterfalls'. 

This forest is home to so much potential, and experiences!

Mighty Mud Mania

I put a challenge out to the children. 

We have a large amount of mud in our yard, on an almost consistent basis! I wanted to see how many different ways we could play with the mud. 

Over the last few weeks we've discovered even more muddy fun. 

channeling water into the mud

Scooping it from one place to another

Okay, technically, not mud... but scooping muddy water into the channel

Turning into a soup

another take on a soup... this time with packing peanuts and pine cones

Painting with above soup

Floating jar lids in the muddy puddles

Painting our school with mud

Mud Pies... wasn't that the best day EVER???

More painting of our building

crossing over it with bridges

EVEN MORE painting... this has been the favourite part of the mud challenge. Notice the wet mud painted over the dried up mud. Yep our building used to be grey, now it's a nice shade of brown!

Scooping it

Transporting it!

Scooping AND transporting

Haha, there was a tiny hole in the bottom of the truck.. the poor children were so confused why it never filled up!

fly swatter mud painting

The fly swatters left behind some interesting designs.....

....because they were hand shaped.

More fly swatter mud painting

Muddy handprints

Yep, even face exfoliant.

A place to ride our bikes

a place to find worms

a place to put more water

perfect for adding grass seed to.

I can't wait to find out what else we can discover mud can do!