On a walk yesterday afternoon, our “lunch bunch” found an interesting spot along the Northbound Trail. A few of the old trees are wedged together in a triangular shape and resemble the beginnings of a building. The children were instantly inspired to add more to the “house.”
After we played “Under the Bridge and Over the Bridge” we took the whole troop out to the trail to investigate. A few children chose to continue yesterday’s project, adding sticks to the current structure. Others found climbing the low, gently sloping trunks much more appealing.
A couple of children seemed to be a bit uncomfortable in the woods. One child did ask if we could “please, just go back to the playground?” Mrs. Pless and I were not surprised. Each year we have at least one child that has not had many experiences exploring natural settings. At first he/she is unsure how to interact with their surrounding. We give them time. Within three-six minutes he/she usually begins to join another child in a game, story or task. If joining a group isn’t his/her thing, the environment provides many enticing opportunities. By the time we were ready to head back to school for Music we had: a house, a toilet (pretend, of course!), a bug village, some fairy dwellings and lots of experience walking on fallen logs.