Red Squirrels, May 21

A summary of Megan's Crew !

Today we made bows and arrows in our tool circle. We played games making great use of the new foliage and the cover it provided for hiding and exploring. Many new “bases” were created in the game at the base of bushes. We foraged dandelions for dandelion tea, which with a little honey, was enjoyed by all. Henry worked on making a woven butterfly with popsicle sticks, pipe cleaners, beads and yarn. We searched for the porcupine on the bluff but to no avail, however a very interesting and informative discussion of porcupines and their spikes resulted. A great deal of wonderful imaginative play was facilitated by the magical tree at the base of the hill. A pulley with a kettle for water was used, at one point this was “gas” to fill up the engine, other times this was to receive delivery of weapons for the army. A rope was strung up for swinging out and sliding down from the high branches. Ropes, soft toys and fabulous sticks were popular in the games in this tree. These activities supported skill development with knot tying, confidence with tools and imaginative play and cooperation with peers. Red Squirrels impressed me today with how they care for each other, how they adapt play to accommodate others and how responsible they are at making sure the teacher knows where they are at all times while on excited adventures, running amongst trees and bushes, battling with their bows and arrows.

Connection Questions:

What game did you play in the tree? What was your favourite part of the game? Did you enjoy dandelion tea? Did you make a bow and arrow?

Summary of Jessie and Dawn's crew

Themes:

- Exploring a new space

- Kitchen creating with mud and water from the little creek

- Accessorizing the stuffies

- Sewing new stuffies

Skills embraced:

- Learning about the 5 stages a dandelion goes through

- Using team work and the natural plants to decorate the fort

- Building items for our stuffies

- Learning the sewing skill, or learning how to make a new thing for those that already knew how

- Changing activities when the current one was getting to intense

Connection questions

What did you decorate the for with? or what did you add to make the fort better? What did you add to your stuffie? braclet? mask? bandage?