Wow! What a bug hunt! The Tel Aviv class ventured into the woods and found a whole variety of bugs. from ants to rollypollys the Tel Aviv kids were fascinated by the creatures they found in the dirt. They used magnify glasses to get a closer look and I was impressed at how they were careful with the critters they found and made sure to show their findings with their classmates. I was also impressed at how every single child was excited to be actively looking for bugs! It was kind of like a treasure hunt!
As we learn more about bugs we are beginning to understand how they are creatures who are alive just like us. Also since we are so big we must be quite scary to them, so there is no reason why we should be scared of them, even if they do look scary sometimes.
We are excited to continue to learn and find more bugs in the woods and on our very own playground.
The Tel Aviv class had so much fun playing in the snow today! The whole class went up the stairs to investigate the big piles of snow next to the parking lot. We climbed them and scooted down them they were so neat. Adam said he could see as far as the fire department! After a bit some kids were ready to go inside and went with Lauri to have circle time while the others choose to play more outside. Micah Rosin, Micah Gladstone, Elias, Charlotte, Noah and Zachary stayed outside for an extra half an hour and enjoyed the beautiful weather outside. I love spending time outside beyond the walls of the playground because we leave all the toys behind. For a full half an hour the six of them entertained themselves by using snow, sticks, each other and their imaginations. They built camp fires, dug for treasure, played house and more. We walked around the playground fence and spent some time by the trees and wooded area next to the playground. They were all engaged in powerful imaginative play and it was a such joy to watch these six kids just being kids. After the extra half an hour tummies began to rumble and we said goodbye to the woods and hurried inside to make more snowmen, this time out of paper and bananas back in the Tel Aviv class.
Over the past few weeks we have been noticing that more and more of our toys are being thrown over the fence on the playground. This is frustrating for many children because once a toy is thrown over it means that we can’t play with it anymore. It becomes a natural consequence for throwing the toy over the fence. We have talked about how we keep our toys on the playground because they might break and animals could think they are food and eat them and get sick, but most of all because it means that no one is able to play with the toys if they are on the other side of the fence. Since we are thankful for our toys and our world we decided that today would be the perfect day to go on a toy hunt. We went to the other side of the fence on the playground and saw that there were LOTS of toys up and down the big hill. The hill was scary for some and everyone had the choice to stay up at the top of take the challenge of walking or sliding down this hill. It was easier for some than others but all felt accomplished as one by one each toy got picked up and put back on the playground. Thanks Tel Aviv friends! I’m glad that we can take care of our toys and our world together!
Nature inspires creativity in a child by demanding visualization and the full use of the senses. ... In nature, a child finds freedom, fantasy, and privacy: a place distant from the adult world, a separate peace." — Richard Louv, Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder, Algonquin Books, 2008, p. 7
Yesterday the Tel Aviv class spent their entire morning outside, much of it in the woods! When the class arrived they were excited by the abundance of leaves covering the forest floor, even more than last week! The class immediately started to explore, sticks, rocks, trees, sticks. The group went to touch, smell and explore all the materials they could find. They went to try balancing on the log and some went to climb the “mountain.” Each time they go into this wooded area they are excited to try these safe risks and improve upon them with every visit.
After some exploring time we re-grouped to have an outdoor circle time! Together we sang our welcome song, loud enough that even Adam’s house could hear it! We decided that circle was extra fun outside because it meant we could use our outside voices! We then did a class Havdalah that was beautiful and intimate and we each shared something special we did over the weekend. Lastly, we had a lovely group snack of animal crackers and grapes.
As soon as snack was over individuals began to explore play. By now the class had become accustom to their environment and all dove deeper into imaginative play. A group of boys took the bag of grapes “camping” and made a circle and went on a pretend hike. Some girls decided to take a plane (a log!) to Cape Cod where they played house. Later there was a group of water skiers on a boat! Adam and Joshua were superheroes! Their imaginations were filled with ideas and soon the sticks and leaves became props to further their imaginative play. It was a beautiful sight to see the group deep in rich play while exploring the world around them. The weather was perfect and all of us enjoyed our time outside together. Toward the end we created a big class leaf pile and soon enough even I was covered in leaves. We all had a blast and we hope that you will enjoy the fun video of our trip!
Thursday the Tel Aviv class split in to two groups and Joshua, Micah Rosin, Elias, Zach, Lily and I went on a beautiful fall walk! The weather was perfect for exploring the woods behind the playground and we set off, plastic bags in hand ready to see what we could find! We quickly found colored leaves and sticks but then decided that playing in the woods was more interesting than collecting. Together we turned over rocks and examined bugs and played imaginary games such as “house” and “hike” in the natural environment. Its great to see how they have the whole world as their materials for play! The woods allow children to take safe risks such as climbing the hill or balancing on the log it is a joy to watch their play flourish as they become more comfortable being outdoors and with each other. We even got to have a special pumpkin bread snack outside! After about an hour we packed up our bags full of leaves and headed back to the classroom.
Once at the classroom much of the group was drawn immediately to the blocks that resembled trees! Elias immediately tried to create really tall trees and then Micah Rosin created a whole forest with lots of smaller trees. I loved how they took their create energies from the wood and brought they right back into their play. They even used the pictures of themselves to re-create the journey they had just experienced. It was very neat to watch! Such a wonderful way to spend a beautiful day!!
Yesterday Max, Ben, Nathan and Jared were playing with a balloon on the playground when all of the sudden...it floated over the fence! We then decided to go on a hunt to the woods on the other side of the fence to bring the balloon back! We quickly got a hold of it and then we were very careful to avoid touching sticks to make sure the balloon didn’t pop. However, once we got to the other side of the playground we saw so many toys that had been thrown over the fence. Nathan and Jared scooted on their bottoms to help them descend the steep hill to rescue the toys. Then they decided to climb back up with a toy in hand. Nathan was concentrating so hard on good climbing that he squeezed his hand around the balloon a bit too tight and POP! Yet even though the balloon popped none of the boys were upset with Nathan and they were all pleased to return to the playground, sand toys in hand having gone on a fun adventure in the woods.
Today Team Bet went on an adventure into the woods! We found rocks of all different shapes, sizes and colors. We picked one's we liked and then made rock faces with special rocks for the eyes nose and mouths! We had magnified glasses and found lots of bugs and even a few squirmy worms. The group loved being able to run around and explore in the open space near the woods. We were all sad when it was time to go and we hope to go back soon!
Today we decided to pack a snack and have a picnic, followed by a walk in the woods. We each received an individual bag to fill with snack. We estimated how much snack would fit in our bags. We learned that two enormous handfuls of crackers will not fit in a small baggie. It was a nice concrete lesson on volume and capacity, and a beautiful day for a picnic!
This morning during early morning drop off Teddy Freidman and I found an Ant! We were quite excited about our new friend so we put it in a cage and put in some dirt so it could have a temporary indoor home. Unfortunately it escaped and when another early drop off friend became scared it got stepped on. So this meant that we had to have an "ant funeral." We went outside and were joined by our friends as they were arriving to school. We had a quick funeral ceremony which included a rousing edition of, "The Ants go Marching" and then decided that we had to go on an "Ant Hunt" to find more ants. We dug in the dirt but there were no ants or bugs in sight! The kids all started to ask to go into the woods to see if we would have more luck beyond the playground. We compromised and went to the area by the playground and searched for a bit there. Soon Max found a stump that was covered in ants! We looked at them and decided that was an ant colony that must live inside. We put a few of them in our container to observe and then let them out at the end of outdoor time. It was neat to see how one little ant could inspire so much create play. Because of this one little ant we had kids from multiple classes working together to grapple with nature and to examine animal behavior. By the end of the morning we had many kids who had all learned that it's important to be kind to all animals, even if they are just an itty-bitty ant.
Jared, Drew, Max and I played in the woods during Tuesday lunch bunch. While in the woods the tree boys came up with so many imaginative games. it was neat to see how they used the surrounding natural materials as props and backdrops to stories that they created. Max found a stick that became a shofar! Jared decided to go camping, fishing, and planted a forrest! When Jared planted the forrest he found that the dirt was softer in different places so we found a soft spot to put sticks in the ground to "plant trees." Drew loved climbing up and down the log and practicing his balancing skills. Being in nature allows children to develop physically and well as socially all while exercising their imaginations.
