The morning began with the investigation of some bugs.
“What is that?!” X cried.
“I’m not sure. Are they ants?” I wondered.
“No, they’re not ants. They have wings!” X said.
He moved in for a closer look, and the bugs flew away.
“Can we play on that while we wait for everyone to get here?” I7 asked.
She pointed to the climbing dome. “Yes, of course you can play,” I said.
I7 and S ran to the dome. X followed. “Climbing is my hobby,” I7 said, as she made her way up.
“Guess what. My little sister is a fuss baby today,” S giggled.
“I think fuss means crying and being loud,” X said.
E arrived, and joined the others on the climber. “Oh my goodness. I’m going on the top. I’ve never been on the top before,” E said.
“I think I got stuck,” I7 announced.
“Now what happens?” I asked her.
“Twisting myself around is my only hope,” I7 explained.
She turned her body around and climbed down.
“I’m afraid there’s going to be scorpions,” X admitted, as he watched the others climbing.
“There’s no scorpions here. They live in the desert,” S assured him.
X began to climb.
“I used to think scorpions lived in the sea. But that was when I was four. Now, I’m seven,” I7 added.
She climbed higher. “Should I go upside down again, even though I got stuck last time? Yes, I should,” I7 told herself.
She adjusted her position on the climbing dome. “This is my favorite part here. If you can hang upside down, you can do lots of tricks,” I7 said.
Some of the children decided to move to the mud kitchen. X picked up a large tub of water and dumped it out.
B arrived, and headed for the mud. He picked up a big stick and pushed it into the dirt. “I’m digging up the ground,” he explained.
L, E, and I6 got to work mixing up some cupcake batter.
B explored different ways to interact with the mud and sand.
First, he sawed at the sand with a snow saw.
Then, he scooped up mud with a small shovel. Next, he connected a toy tractor with a trailer. “Tractors have trailers so they can pull,” he said.
S was sitting on the stumps eating a snack. “X, come quick. There’s a bug!” she called.
X ran to the stump to see. “What kind of bug is it?” he wanted to know.
“I’m not sure. It kind of looks like a weevil,” I said.
“If it doesn’t bite, that means you can touch it,” X said.
“I don’t think this kind will bite,” I told him.
B pushed a truck through the sand. He continued pushing it into the mud puddle. “My garbage truck went right in the water,” he said.
I6, L, and E decided to make a potion. They mixed smashed chalk and water, then poured the concoction into a bottle. “I’m working over here to see if our potion actually works. Should it be a love potion?” E asked.
“Sleeping potion,” L replied.
“First it makes you fall in love, then fall asleep,” E tried again.
This compromise seemed to satisfy L.
X, S, and I7 were playing on the swing. All of the sudden, there was a bit of conflict. Voices were getting louder. The children seemed to be talking through the situation, so I gave them some time before checking in.
“Everything okay over here?” I asked.
“Yeah. I thought X wanted to be off the swing, because he got off of it. I told him he has to TALK to us, otherwise we won’t know what he wants,” S explained.
“I want to be on the swing,” X said.
“Okay, then get on,” said S, as she moved over to make room for him.
I7 continued to push S and X on the swing. E and L were still at work on their potion. “This is going to be the best day ever. Pour just a little bit on each one,” E said, as she dumped some potion on each of the cupcakes she had made with L and I6.
B held up a cup of sand that was topped with a white paste.
“What is this?! Is it mashed potatoes?” he asked.
“It does kind of look like mashed potatoes, doesn’t it? I think the white stuff is baking soda,” I said.
“Chelsey, I don’t know what to do,” I6 said.
“There are lots of things to do here, and you can do whatever you’d like. Would you like me to open the easel so you can paint?” I asked.
“No, I don’t want to stand when I do it. I just really want to go home. I don’t want to play because I don’t want to get dirty,” I6 explained.
“Did you see that there is water, and you can wash yourself off if you get dirty?” I asked.
“Yeah but I don’t want to. I don’t want to clean myself up,” I6 said.
“Do you want to sit in the shade for a bit until you figure out what you’d like to do?” I asked.
“No, I don’t want to just sit,” I6 insisted.
I had a hunch that I6 was having a hard time because the other children had all paired up and were busy together. No one was excluding I6 on purpose, but there was no one there who was specifically asking to play with her in that moment. Children are still learning how to process their feelings, and the uncomfortable feelings can be extra challenging to manage.
“I’m going to get the easel ready, in case you change your mind,” I said.
I6 wandered around for a few minutes, and then joined S on the swing.
E poured water on the table, then swiped a paint brush across the wood. “I’m cleaning the table. It’s VERY dirty,” E said.
B watched what E was doing. “What’s going on here?” he asked.
“I’m cleaning the table,” E explained.
B filled a jug with water, then dumped it on the table. “I’m going to help she,” he said.
L stood next to a container of water that held three rubber ducks. “We rescue baby animals. Right now, we have a baby cheetah, a baby unicorn, and a baby owl,” L explained.
S, I7, and X headed over to the climbing dome. “I was born to hang upside down,” I7 said.
X climbed up on the dome, and then froze. “I don’t know how to get down because I’m afraid of the ants,” he said.
“X! They’re just ants!” I7 reminded him.
X jumped down off the climber. He climbed right back up.
B loaded some wood into a dump truck. “I’m taking these boards. I’ve got a big load,” he said, before pushing the truck out of the sand and into the grass.
B parked the truck and climbed onto the teeter totter. “Anybody want to do the teeter totter with me?” he called out.
E stopped what she was doing. “I will, and then I’m going to go back,” she said.
E spent a few minutes on the teeter totter with B. Both children laughed and smiled as they teetered and tottered.
Over at the swing, S was being pushed by X, I7, and I6. “S was doing all the pushing, so this is her treat,” I7 explained.
Once S was finished with her solo swinging turn, she, X, I7, and I6 took turns pushing and swinging.
E approached the easel and began to paint. I7 walked by E. “I like what you’re making,” she said.
“Thanks,” E replied.
I7 picked a dandelion. She carried it over to the swing and blew on it.
“If someone doesn’t blow it all, they have to tell someone else their wish, and they get to blow it,” X said.
“That’s not a rule,” S insisted.
X tried, without much success, to convince the others that it was a rule.
B wandered over to the swing while L and I7 were being pushed by S. “Can I go on there?” he wondered.
“Sure. I’ll get off, so you can have a turn,” I7 offered.
“Do you want to go fast, or slow?” S asked B, before resuming her pushing.
“I want slow. I don’t like fast. Actually, I want to get off,” B decided.
He climbed off and ran back to the mud kitchen.
L also ran back to the mud area. She climbed into a pool of water, surrounded by rubber ducks. “This is my duck pond,” she said.
B filled a dump truck with water, mud, and grass. “I’m making this. This… stuff,” he announced.
When they started to feel hungry, some of the children paused to listen to stories and eat snacks.
Once they had refueled, they got right back to playing.
P, L and E ended up back at the mud kitchen. L and E decided to once again work on their potion. P walked over to them with two containers of muddy water in her hands.
“Do you want to pour that in?” L asked.
“Yeah,” P replied.
She added her water to their mixture. “Do you want to help us?” E asked.
“Yeah,” P said.
I7 climbed up to the top of the dome. “I can see everything from up here!” she exclaimed.
The morning ended with the children still deeply engaged in play. There was even a child m-initiated and child-led collaborative painting session.
Time, space, and permission made for a day filled with opportunities to move, explore, experiment, assess and take risks, develop problem solving skills, practice resolving conflicts, try new things, pretend, use teamwork, connect with nature, imagine, create, and have lots of fun.
todaywewillplay 