The afternoon began on the dome climber.
S climbed up and lowered herself through one of the openings, over and over again.
“My mom said she was sure that no other kids were going to be here today,” she told me, on one of her up climbs.
“That’s right. Some people are traveling, some people are sick, and some people have other plans today,” I said.
After five or six climbs, S wandered over to the boat. She stepped inside, and noticed a puddle of water on the floor.
“My boots can go anywhere. Snow, mud, dirt, and if it’s raining,” she announced.
“That’s right,” I agreed.
S continued on to the mud kitchen.
“I found ice!” she exclaimed.
She held the ice with her bare hand.
“I’m going to do that thing, you know, where we make the cakes. I’m going to have a cake shop,” she said, as she selected the kitchen tools she wanted to use.
S got to work mixing up a cake. All of the sudden, she stopped.
“I hear a bird!” she gasped.
We scanned the yard with our eyes, searching for the source of the sound. Eventually, we located it, on top of the deck. The bird was red, and from where we were standing, looked like a cardinal.
“On a show I learned that in the spring, the cardinal boys sing a song to impress the girls, so they can live together,” S explained.
“I’ve heard that, too,” I said.
S poked at a bowl of sand with a hand shovel.
“I’m making some of the special dough. I’m breaking it into pieces. I found it in the ship, right there,” she said, referring to one of the bowls.
S studied her mixture.
“I think I could use some more ice,” she said.
She pulled some icicles off of the top of the mud kitchen and carried them back to her cake. She picked up a silver bowl and placed it over her cake.
“It’s going to be a surprise. Because, look. You can take it off and put it on,” she said.
S found a teapot and looked inside. She placed the icicles inside the teapot.
“I’m putting some ice in the container, so it will melt for water. I’m putting it in the sun,” she explained.
S carried the teapot over to a sunnier spot in the yard.
She set it down on a stump, and returned to the mud kitchen. She got busy making another concoction.
“I’m going to go check on the drink,” she said, a few moments later.
S skipped over to the stump and peeked inside the teapot.
“It’s melting!” she cheered.
She brought the teapot back to the mud kitchen.
“I think I will break them. Maybe it will melt faster,” S said.
She collected more icicles and broke them into pieces before adding them to the teapot.
S carried the teapot over to the balance scale. She experimented with hanging the teapot on one of the arms.
When the side with the teapot wouldn’t stay in the up position, S filled a large bucket with sand. She lugged it over to the balance scale and hung it on the opposite arm. This caused the arm with the teapot to stay in the up position.
“Look, so it can go higher. The higher something is, the more sun can get it,” she explained.
“That’s good thinking,” I said.
S walked back to the mud kitchen and took some time to figure out what she wanted to make next.
“Should I make cupcakes?” she wondered.
“Sure, if you’d like,” I said.
“Where’s the cupcake tin?” she asked.
“Ah…hmm…look around I guess, and see if there is one,” I told her.
When the cupcake tin wasn’t readily available, S selected a loaf pan.
“Maybe I could make banana bread?” she said.
As she began to fill the loaf pan, she saw the cupcake tin out of the corner of her eye. S popped up and grabbed it. She began to fill it with sand.
“Muffins, for people who don’t like frosting. Some people don’t like frosting,” she told me.
“That is true,” I agreed.
When each compartment on the cupcake tin was full, S sprinkled snow on top of some of muffins.
“I made two muffins and four cupcakes,” she explained.
She set the cupcake tin down, and stirred a pot of soup that had been simmering on the stove this whole time. Then she picked up a mug.
“I think this should be the drink,” she said.
She went to check on the teapot.
“There’s no water in here even though its melting,” she said.
She demonstrated by trying to pour from the pot.
“Hmm. I wonder if it needs even more water,” I suggested.
S took a moment to think about where she could get more water. She remembered the puddle on the floor of the boat, and carried the teapot over to it.
“How am I going to get the water into here?” she asked.
“I wonder if there’s a tool you could use,” I replied.
S ran to the kitchen and came back with two squeezers and a plastic container. She handed one of the squeezers to me.
“Now, pick up the water, and squeeze it into here. We’re going to put it in here, and then pour it into the teapot,” she explained.
I helped S collect water in the plastic container. Then she poured it into the teapot. She carried the pot back to the kitchen.
“The snow melted!” she giggled, when she noticed that the snow frosting on the cupcakes had disappeared.
S began to feel hungry. She paused to eat a snack and listen to stories.
Once she had refueled, she went right back to playing. She explored the large rocking hammock.
“This is a pirate ship,” she said, as she rocked.
S stopped the rocking hammock and ran to the boat.
“I’m the captain. You’re the paddler,” she instructed.
She handed me an oar, and then climbed into the front of the boat. I sat down in the back.
“Tip it side to side so it’s like we’re actually in the water,” she said.
I did as I was told.
“Actually, now I’m the paddler, but I’m still the captain,” she said.
I handed S the oar, and she paddled us to our destination.
“Okay. We’re at the restaurant,” she said.
She hopped out of the boat and pulled a smaller rocking toy to the side of the boat.
“This is like the deck to get off the boat,” she explained, climbing back in.
She crawled onto the smaller rocking toy, then crawled across it.
S decided that she wanted to swing, next.
She spent some time on the swing, and the hammock.
When she noticed the easel, she wanted to paint.
“I’m going to draw what I want to paint, and then paint it,” she explained.
When she was done painting, she experimented with the music wall.
Next, she went back to the climber.
The afternoon ended with a long stick.
“Look, this is like a bamboo stick,” she said.
S carried the stick over to the sand. She used it to break apart some large pieces of bark that were on the ground.
S carried the smaller pieces of bark over to her cake. She peeled the bark and sprinkled it on top of the cake.
“Look what I’m doing. I’m taking all the yellowness off of it,” she explained.
When it was time to go, S protested.
“Not yet! I’m not finished yet. I’m very close. I’m going to finish, cut it, and leave it for Nancy’s kids so they can enjoy it, too,” she said.
It was hard to argue with that, so I let her do what she needed to do. S alternated between two shovels to cut and scoop out chunks of cake. She placed each piece onto a plate.
“I’m working as fast as I can,” she assured me.
Time, space, and permission to play made for a day filled with opportunities to move, explore, experiment, solve problems, pretend, try new things, imagine, assess and take risks, try, fail, and try again, create, connect with nature, and have lots of fun.
todaywewillplay 