The afternoon began at a tree that had been partially cut down.
“This can be our restaurant,” F said.
“Yeah!” R7 agreed.
F climbed up onto the tree and looked inside a hole he saw on a knot.
“An animal lives in there!” he gasped.
“Huh?” said R7.
He and R6 peeked into the hole. R7 reached his hand in and pulled out a quilted heart.
“I get to keep it because I found it!” R7 exclaimed.
“No, I found it!” F insisted.
“You all kind of found it, so how about if you share it?” I suggested.
“Fine. It’s going to be the centerpiece for the table. Put this in the backpack in a pocket where it won’t fall out,” R7 told me.
He handed me the heart and I put it away. From up on the tree, F started setting up his cooking area.
“Don’t touch the pan. The oven is on and it’s HOT,” F warned.
“Can we pretend we’re a jail and we’re making disgusting old food?” F asked a few moments later.
“No. We’re not a jail. Why do you like jail so much?” R7 replied.
F, R6, and R7 settled in on the tree. They each started shredding chalk into different containers.
“Hey, that’s mine, R7,” R6 said.
She was referring to the pot R7 was using to hold his chalk dust.
“Get me a bowl and I won’t have to do this,” R7 told her.
R6 grabbed a bowl and traded R7 for the pot. R7 resumed shredding chalk into his bowl.
F hopped down with his pan and moved to a stump.
“Actually, this is my stove,” he said.
F got back to work shredding his chalk.
R7 jumped down and poured his pink chalk dust into F’s pan.
“I’ve got more chalk, R7. Take it down,” R6 said.
R7 stayed on the ground with F.
“Is this going to be rainbow dust?” R7 wanted to know.
R6 jumped down from the tree.
“I’m coming down to help,” she announced.
“Did you know we’re trying to make rainbow of this?” F asked her.
R6 found a place to set up next to the boys. Then she resumed her chalk shredding.
“R6, you’re not helping right now. You need to point it down more,” F told her.
He demonstrated the best angle to hold the chalk while scraping it against the rim of the pan.
R6 adjusted her technique.
“Good job, R6!” F cheered.
F looked down and noticed that some chalk dust was spilling on the log.
“This log is going to be tie dye,” he said.
“I’ve worked at this restaurant the longest,” R7 declared.
“No, I have worked here a long time, too,” F insisted.
“R6 is new,” he added.
“But she’s really good,” R7 chimed in.
“This is actually really cool,” F said, as he studied the dust in the pan.
“We want it to look like galaxy. This is galaxy sauce,” R7 explained.
“Pretend we only like fresh colors,” F said.
“Not colors with other colors mixed in,” R7 agreed.
“Do you want to be the patient?” F asked me.
“Patient? Or customer?” I wondered.
“Customer,” F clarified.
“Okay. Sure,” I told him.
“I serve the galaxy sauce,” F informed everyone.
He picked up a new container and began shredding a piece of orange chalk.
“This is my specialty. Did you know you’re getting two bowls of this?” F asked.
“Do you want soup, too?” R6 turned to me and asked.
“I didn’t know. But sure, I’ll have some soup,” I answered.
“Pretend you didn’t know the secret recipe,” F said.
“We all have our own talents,” R7 said.
“No one knows how to make the lemon coffee ground stuff,” F added.
“No one knows how to make the soup,” R6 said.
“No one knows how to make the galaxy sauce so smooth,” R7 said.
“Let’s be the most famousest restaurant in the world!” R6 exclaimed.
“Yeah, we are. It’s called Galaxy…” R7 began.
“No, it’s called Lemon Squirt,” F suggested.
“It’s called Galaxy World,” R7 finished his thought.
“The restaurant is called Famous Secrets,” R6 said.
This was the start of a short period of conflict. R6 split from F and R7 to make her own restaurant. R7 and F climbed back up on the tree with their cooking supplies.
After a while, R6 wanted to join R7 and F again. They didn’t want to make room for her on the tree.
“There’s not enough room up here,” R7 pointed out.
I suggested that we could move to a new space with more room for all. R7 and F were adamant that they did not want to move. Eventually, they decided that it was more fun to play with R6. They made room for her on the tree.
“Can I have my pot?” R6 asked, once she was settled in the tree.
“It has all the chalk in it,” R7 said.
“You can use this bowl to dump it in,” R6 said.
She traded R6 the bowl for the pot.
“Can you stop kneeing me?” R7 told F.
“I’m not trying to,” F said.
“Don’t bump me,” R6 reminded them.
A train horn sounded in the distance.
“I hear a train! R7, tell her the train joke” R6 gasped.
“What’s the difference between a teacher and a train?” R7 asked me.
“Hmm. Tell me,” I replied.
“A teacher says spit out your gum but a train says choo choo!” R7 laughted.
“Ha! That’s funny!” I said.
R6 stood up on the tree.
“I’m being brave. Would I break my arm if I fell from here?” she wanted to know.
“It would depend on how you land,” R7 told her.
The children played restaurant for more than an hour and a half.
“I want to go to the rocks,” R6 said.
“Let’s play cave men,” R7 agreed.
The afternoon ended at the play area.
“If you want to be a cave dweller, you have to copy how the animals go,” R7 said, as he balanced on the rocks.
Another child in the play area approached R7 and asked if he wanted to play.
“What’s your name?” R7 asked.
The boy told him, and they started a chasing game with F and R6. When everyone grew tired of running, they made up a new game.
“We’re spies. They’re in jail. If they spot us, they’re free to chase us,” the other child explained the rules.
R6 and F began to count while R7 and the other child ran to hide. Then R7 and the other child attempted to spy on R6 and F. When R6 and F noticed the spies, they chased them. Eventually, they managed to catch R7 and the other child.
“Spies lost. Agents won,” the other child said.
“Are we spies?” R6 asked.
“No, you’re agents. You win,” the other child told her.
R6 grinned. Time, space, and permission to play made for a day filled with opportunities to move, explore, experiment, pretend, imagine, use teamwork, share ideas, resolve conflicts, solve problems, try new things, make new friends, connect with nature, experience joy, and have lots of fun.
todaywewillplay 