Outdoor Happenings

We have recently expanded our outdoor space! The children have found this extremely exciting!...and so have our teachers! :) We are adding many more nature based materials for the children to use. (We are looking to be an certified Nature Explorer Classroom by spring of this coming year. Last week we received a new truck load of mulch. The children were all hands on deck working together to try to spread the mulch out on the playground and did a fantastic job! (There are some photos below showing them hard at work).

Watching the truck dump the mulch in.

Diving into the mulch to help spread it.

Working together to move the mulch and dump it.

Some students even used our sand toys to help.

Working together to use the small wheelbarrow to move the mulch.

Also, just today we had a local farmer drop off some large spools of various sizes. The children can use them to sit on, as tables (the larger ones), and to build with (the small ones). They were so excited and began to work with them. Some children began by just seeing if they could lift them. Others immediately turned them to the sides to see if they would roll well. Others they noticed they could use them as a chair, table, etc. Befiore long they were pretending to eat, took a few in our playhouse to use as a table and chairs, and even drumming. Some of our youngest students even rolled them to the far fence in our outdoor area to gain some new perspective. To see our work be sure to check out the photos below.

This student was seeing if she could lift them.

This student was working hard to roll her spool.

This group of children rolled and carried quite a few to an open area where they could set up a table and chairs. They informed teachers "we are pretend eating!"

These two boys found some twigs that had come of our trees and set up their own drumming session.

These two students worked hard to bring the biggest spool into our playhouse for a table.

After working so hard with the spools, this student is taking a break sitting at the new "table" in the playhouse while on his new "chair."

Finally, what may have been my favorite conversation of our outdoor time today happened between three of my youngest students. They worked hard to roll and carry their three spools to the far side of the new fence. They they climbed on them using the fence for balance. While taking this photo I overheard their conversation. The student in red said, "Hey, a you see Mal-Mart?" (Wal-mart) The student in the white coat in the center said "No. A no Mal-mart o'er der." (over there) Finally the student on the end in the pink said "Mal-Mart. My mommy likes Mal-Mart. I see mommy? No...no mommy. No Mal-Mart." The student in the red said "Ah ok."

I just love how new materiels helped three of our littlest people gain a new perspective...being a foot or so off the ground made them feel so big they could maybe see "Mal-Mart"... Love it!

Can't wait to update again soon about more outdoor explorations!