"G" is for glorious sunshine!

Boys examining the ice on the bark of a big tree.

What a glorious, sparkling sunny day today! The dew had crystallized on the grass and everything was shiny and bright. We lay down on the grass in order to better observe the frost. The kids made their own "nest" with downed branches and pretended to be animals in a cage.

We wanted to spend as much time as we could in the sun so we began with circle time out in the meadow. Everyone did very well getting into a circle and sang the TOP song and the ABC song with gusto.

This week we are focusing on the letter “g”.  So we talked about goats, grass and gorillas and our very own Gilberto!  After a quick run to the Monkey tree to warm u,p the kids chose what activity they wanted to do.  Some wanted to investigate the ice flowing down the side of the big tree and poke the tree roots with sticks.  Others dug into the ground and some played in the branches they collected.  There was a lot of marvelous imaginative play going on.  We modeled for the children how to approach a child they wanted to play with.  “Can I play with you?”  and helped them through the process. 

After much fun in the sun we headed to the new outdoor classroom for stories and snack.  The kids enjoyed the story Goodbye Geese, (with two “g” words).  Then all of the children made up a fun game by walking on a large, fallen tree trunk and then one by one jumping off the tree onto a cut section of another tree. They had created their own game, with its own rules, with no words.  Yet they all waited their turn patiently and were clearly having a great time.   

Nature brings out the most in a child's imagination!