Fort Mania

This is what we've been up to the last couple weeks. It's interesting to see where the play goes when something simple like bungee cords and clamps are placed in the room. Forts have been taking over our centre and we've enjoyed perfecting them and just exploring with the bungee cords.

The bungee cords are useful tools for moving large items, especially when there are many hands working together!

The fort making has even made it outside as well, which makes for some wonderful spaces to stop and have a snack!

Provocations

When I set up the environment before the children arrive I try to envision where the play will go. So last week I hung a hanging weigh scale from the roof for a science activity. I left it hanging and placed a variety of items that could hang from it (with a little imagination and innovation). My adult brain couldn't quite see where the play would go, so I kept my eye on that area all day to see what the children came up with. 

For much of the day the children generally ignored the scale, to most they just pushed it out of the way as if it was more of a nuisance. I was tempted to take it down, but i'm glad I didn't. 

It started with one spiky block being hooked on the scale, so I watched to see where it went from there. 

It was tricky getting them to stick to each other while suspended from mid air, but with a little perseverance, delicate fingers and a LOT of patience something was coming together!

Do you see what it was? It was a Periscope!!!

Of course once the prototype was made, it was time to move on to perfect it. So a set of eye holes were attached. 

This was definitely a lesson in patience and to not give up on provocations and to just give it time allow the magic to happen.

Sensory Garden

Over the last few weeks we have been working towards this week! We are putting the plants in the ground! 

This is something I foresee lots of wonderful memories being made in. It's a garden that will be full of so many textures and smells. We're so excited to get going on this project! 

It was quite humorous to watch the children help out with the planting today. The garden itself is quite large, but they all still gathered right next to each other right on the edge and started digging. They did seem to get the concept though, once the plants came out. We did a lot of planning, the children took it quite seriously, looking for 'full sun' and 'partial shade' spots. 

It's turning into quite the project! More photos coming soon!

The things we learn through play

Over the last few weeks I have been noticing a few additional bumps and bruises creeping up. Now that we are approaching the warmer weather, we do not have quite as much padding on our bodies, so the scrapes are a little more apparent. The children are quite comfortable with getting the odd scrape and bruise and after a moment or two of tears, they are usually off running and laughing again. I have been observing quite a bit of empathy being exhibited amoungst the children, and they are only too eager to run to the freezer for an ice pack for their friends. The children have also been right there as I apply a band-aid or two, or hovering (usually in the light) as I search for a splinter with the tweezers. As a direct result of this interest in helping each other, and the innate desire to stick band aids all over ourselves the children were very excited to discover a corner set up for just that purpose. With a few extra little bits it's become quite a popular area! 

We had this machine laying around, not sure what it's really for, but it looks very medical-like. The children have been using it for a wide variety of things everything from stethoscopes to telephones. It has two instruments attached by wires, it's pretty neat!

After most of the bandaids had been massacred and stuck all over each other's bodies, the children were looking for a patient. All the children were eager to be the doctor, so who better to be the guinea pig than me? I gave the camera to one of the doctors who enjoyed taking pictures of me being 'doted' on! 

I'm being X-Ray'd, of course! Then my diagnoses was that my body just was old, that's all, and I was left with a prescription to take two smarties. I felt very well taken care of, and would recommend this hospital to anyone.... seriously, anyone else?!?! My eyebrows are barely there after a few bandaids were applied and ripped off. But really, they were gentle;)

After being doted on, I was left there abandoned as the children moved on to something else. I'm sure another day someone else will take the bait and sit in as the patient. If not, there are always those little dolls. 

Ma-ma-ma-mess!

We had a large donation of  spices and a variety of baking ingredients that were past their 'best by date', and I wondered how we could use them in a 'creative' way. So... thinking back to my childhood concoctions of 'ingredients' I found in my family's bathroom cupboards the children arrived to a dress up area complete with  jars of REAL ingredients, along with a range of cooking tools and dishes. I stood back and watched it all unfold!

The ingredients just got dumped right in!

And mixed right up!

I threw a little hot chocolate powder in for a little surprise!

From the picture below, sufficed to say we had some fun! A few brave children took a little taste, and proclaimed it did not taste as yummy as it smelled.

This picture below does it no justice, but I wanted to show that much of the 'mixture' ended up on the carpet below, seriously, there was a LOT on the floor, you just can't tell! I took this picture because I wanted to show that it happens and how important it is that it happened. I will be honest I have a lot of moments that the mess gets to me... what I mean is, I would love to have a little cleaning fairy flit about and clean up after the children. BUT, then I remind myself that this space is created FOR THE CHILDREN. Although they are in my home, it is a space that is designated for them to play and have fun! Children are children and they ARE going to make messes. The space is designed for them to be allowed to make a mess. I want them to feel comfortable and welcome enough that they are free to play. If there is something that I don't want the children to play with, it is not out. Everything in the space is available for the children to have opportunities to explore, create, and play with. I have been in centres that, although the mantra was that the children were welcome to play and enjoy with all the materials, the space was not comfortable for myself, so how could it be expected that the children would feel comfortable to play in it? I am not saying they were not wonderfully designed spaces, and it was no ones fault but my own. Because they were not my spaces, I was uncertain of my boundaries, it was hard to communicate those boundaries to the children, if that makes any sense. I feel blessed to be able to have provided this space for the children, and I hope that my role as a caregiver reflects to the children that it is THEIR space. My image of children is that they are capable beings and caring individuals. So when I see the mess I understand that the children did not intentionally create it, but just got so caught up in the enjoyment of the moment to notice what had happened.

So with that being said, I will point out that these opportunities are provided to the children, and because I believe them to be caring individuals I trust them to clean up when the times comes. It happens and in the photo below you can see that the children took the initiative and brought tools and dishes to the laundry sink, and.... even spilled a little. So....

They cleaned it up, and moved on with their day.

It's also important to point out that when our laundry sink looks like this, we have had a FUN day!

Dandelions: Part 2

After part one of our dandelion series the children got creative and made some neat dandelion art in the grass. There were a few other creations, but our camera battery died so they are forever in our memory now.

A spontaneous science lesson exploded when we discovered that our outdoor classroom housed each and every stage in the development of a dandelion.

Dandelion Bud

Yellow Flower

In between the yellow flower and the seed head

The seed head

Of course what child could resist blowing on the seed heads? 

We did also find another use for the dandelion flowers... a little ear accessory!

Diversity

We will get to part 2 of our dandelion series on our next post, but I wanted to share a lovely thing that happened today.

We took a trip to our local library, and on the way back we stopped in at the bakery to pick up a little something. While we were in the shop a man walked in. As much as I want to say that the children do not notice differences, they are aware, but the are accepting. You see this man had one leg. 

So I know this wonderful man will probably not see this, but in the event that he does, I want to say thank you for allowing the children to ask you questions, and for your kindness in answering those questions so patiently and with such openness. I know some of the questions were silly, like did the doctor throw your leg in the garbage? To children these questions are important, and you recognized that. Thank you also for showing the children how you can hop on one leg... in the middle of a tiny bakery!