This week the Cottontails learned about the food chain through the Animal Game, rigged up a pulley system for lifting rocks, and tested their risk tolerance and group communication skills by sledding on the icy path.
On our walk up to our spot we noticed a little Downy Woodpecker at work and stopped to watch. Once they flew away we examined the holes they left in the tree.
Sledding involved storytelling with the smaller bags becoming "life bags" or "boats" that were deployed when it was time to bail off of the big sled. The children were continually assessing the risk (as were the teachers, but it was good to see the students take initiative in this area) and they chose to have a meeting afterward to decide if they would sled on that part of the path again.
Overall we observed a lot of great learning in the areas of physical and emotional literacy. After the meeting the class decided to do a snow dance to see if we could coax the weather into sending something softer to slide on. We'll see how that turns out next week.
During the last few minutes of the day a rock lifting device was designed and taken for a successful test run. Next week we plan to bring pulleys to add to the design. See you then Cottontails!
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