What a treat it was to be out in the woods last Friday night with so many of you. Watching your kids running through the darkness may have been the highlight of my year so far!
This week we’re wrapping up our “building” theme, with a focus on walls and enclosures. We’ve borrowed some big cardboard blocks that lend themselves well to large castles, walls, and very creative structures. The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) describes the different stages of block play for young children:
Stage 1: Discovering Blocks
Stage 2: Stacking Blocks
Stage 3: Complex Stacking
Stage 4: Making Enclosures
Stage 5: Creating Bridges or Arches
Stage 6: Combining Enclosures and Bridges
Stage 7: Building with Patterns and Symmetry
Stage 8: Building Block Structures that Represent Objects for Pretend Play
It has been wonderful to watch the children in this class progress through these stages, with so much creativity and imaginative play infused into their structures. We will continue to have our block area available during our inside choice times, and it will no doubt continue to be a popular spot to play!
Attached to this week's newsletter is a handout that didn’t make it to many folks from the Solstice Celebration - it describes the benefits of play, things you can do at home to encourage productive play, and why we think that playing in nature is so great.
Here are some more fun things that have happened in the past two weeks:
Our amazing town librarian Cathy Wilkin still comes to read to us in the woods every Thursday!
Helping to carry and stack kindling was a popular activity last Friday.
We cooked some sweet potatoes, parsnips, and potatoes over the fire.
Check out this crew hiding behind a log...
Kids aren't allowed inside the fire square, but they can kneel and warm their hands over the fire.
Eating fire-roasted root veggies!
This fun fort held strong for a couple of weeks - now it has turned into a "car" and looks more like a big pile of sticks :)
We made the worm bin more accessible, and kids have had a great time checking in our classroom friends this week.
Working on some presents to send home before the vacation - check your child's backpack!
Kids can find the mud, even on the coldest and iciest of days.
Building with big cardboard blocks has been a popular activity this week.
These kids used at least 3 different kinds of blocks in their structure.
We discovered a new climbing tree!
Remember that fort from a few pictures back? This is what it looks like now!
Here are a few pictures from the Solstice Celebration - thanks so much for making it such a magical night!
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