By Carrie Komesch, Educator
This is how some students arrive once there is snow on the winding pathway from the parking area.
Monday is our preschool program, and our youngest students have had a lot to overcome lately in terms of their environment! Every Monday in January thus far has been frigid and windy, and even though our students are always layered up for a miniature Everest ascent, their little cheeks and fingers and toes would get cold playing outside.
Luckily, Mother Nature gave them some respite today. The sun was out, the weather was (relatively) balmy, and our preschoolers laughingly threw themselves into their play.
A cheery fox basks in the snow.
I can only speak to my own experiences and observations today—we had three other educators also in the mix, doing a variety of activities with fluctuating groups of students as their interest ebbed and flowed. Although I missed a lot of what manifested around them, I know for sure that there was wood collection and a campfire as well as chasing games and indoor reading.
I started the day with a group of students who were interested in putting out sunflower seeds for the birds. They huddled beside the shed, and one at a time they scattered their handfuls of seed into the snow, and then sat or stood back to observe. And almost right away the bird calls in our vicinity got louder, and chickadees and nuthatches (both red- and white-breasted) gathered in the trees nearby. The nuthatches are seemingly more bold, and two red individuals made quite a few landings on the ground in front of us.
It was very exciting!
“This is bird-watching. I love bird-watching.”
I was also involved in some painting of the snow and the plywood box that covers an obsolete light stand beside the path. We had diluted paint in spray bottles at one point, but the plastic shattered easily in the cold, so we’re back to brushes and sticks (and boots, today—three children stomped in a pan of greenish brownish reddish paint to see what kind of mark it left in the snow
Hanging up the backpack can wait. It’s time to PAINT THE SNOW.
“I am going to let all these dry in the sun.”
We also did some simultaneous reading and snacking beside the balance beam, and then played on the swings before returning to feeding the birds.
Oh! And after one child asked about using the “raquettes,” we had a small pack of them stomping around the clearing and slightly further afield, because as one student informed me, snowshoes are meant to be used in deep snow.
Video: preschool on snowshoes
What a lovely Monday!