Rabbits, November 8th

These kids definitely earned their winter warrior stripes on Tuesday! It was minus thirty with the wind chill and spectacular. The snow was soft and deep. As Theo said it was made for relaxing in and (as they proved), adventuring in. We started with a challenging hike up the bluff to Crescent Heights. We used a rope and mini shovels to make the expedition. There was teamwork, determination, silliness and the pure joy of jumping down a pitch into deep powder. By this time everyone had a good sense of what it meant to keep warm and safe in this weather. They took responsibility in making sure their hats and mitts were properly on and asked for help when they needed to. We had a brief rest at the top and looked at the skyline; taking note of the steam and crystals in the air and headed to a favourite toboggan run called the Teardrop. The snow was deep so there were explorations and discussions about different types of snow, what works and what does not. We use big plastic dog food bags for sledding, which can be a bit challenging. The kids had to adjust their techniques often to find the best way to make it smoothly down the hill. Sledding evolved into rough/wrestling play. Megan and I kept a very close eye on the dynamics and were ready to jump in if they needed help. By stepping back and only offering help when needed, this group of kids very adequately created safety rules and built respect within the game. Discussions about teams and wrestling skills continued on our walk down the hill. New friendships were kindled along with a sense of camaraderie amongst the group. Some take away questions you could ask are; how did you stay warm?; did you see any new parts of the bluff?; did you have a technique for sledding?; did your mitts keep the snow out and your hands warm?