Rabbits, 7 Dec

Rabbits developed their team dynamics today. In a tire challenge involving transporting each member of the class across to the other side, they worked together to assess the best method and to support each other. Ask your child how they went in the challenge and if they managed to make it across, how they did it?

In free play recently two forts have emerged, inspiring battle games. To facilitate this play in a manner that nurtures all involved we discussed battle rules that we all agreed upon. These were very effective in helping the children navigate any disputes and supported them to be able to express themselves effectively and speak articulately for their point of view. We saw some excellent negotiations and discussions taking place and observed strong interpersonal skill development in these interactions. We also had a sort of martial art training ground to refine one's technique and battle-craft. By directing the instinct for battle play into technique training, this activates concepts of skill, control and restraint and removes the aggression and violence from the interaction. This kind of play also stimulates excellent discussions around boundary setting, participating in rules agreed upon and effective negotiation.

Continuing interpersonal communication skills, we carried forward our debriefing and getting-to-know-one-another activities, that we have been developing in recent weeks, by asking questions of a new partner and begun devising questions to ask in response to what we have learned.

The Rabbits are a wonderful class and the strength of their relationships show through in the dynamics of their play. We explored ideas of differentiating eldest and youngest last week, in response to the childrens' conversation and to subtly carry forward this theme we shared the Aesop tale of the Lion and the Mouse.. some children drew conclusions about the might and value of the small from this story.