In September, the students engaged in David Sobel's 'children and nature play motif' of hunting and gathering.
They collected natural items in our different natural spaces that they could use in their outdoor classroom.
We chose our class evergreen tree that we will observe throughout the year. The students used their senses to explore the bark and "spikes". They heard and identified the song of a Chickadee that was in the tree.
They compared the "spikes" to the "spikes" of a nearby evergreen tree. They identified that the "spikes" of our tree were greener and the "spikes" of the nearby tree were bluer.
They noticed that the bark was sticky. The students thought the sticky part looked like "oatmeal and syrup."
The students' favourite part of the tree was the "handle"that they could hang from.
They had different theories as to why a part of the bark looked different. After discussing it, they agreed that a branch used to be attached to the tree at that spot. Some thought that the branch fell off, some thought that the wind made the branch break off, and others thought that someone cut the branch off.
We all wondered what type of evergreen tree our class tree is.
The students explored using different natural materials to make nature mandalas.
The students enjoyed helping to put up different shelters and going in and out of the different shelters.
They noticed that the bark on the class deciduous tree wasn't sticky and that it had green and yellow leaves instead of "spikes." 
We found on the ground some "flat bananas" and wonder if they came from our tree.
The students also noticed "soft and fluffy green stuff" on the tree. The students didn't think it was good for the tree and tried to clean the tree. We all wondered what type of tree it is.
We went on a scavenger hunt to look for various items in nature. I found that the scavenger hunt encouraged the students to look closely and to notice things that they didn't notice before.
The children found a wonderful natural shelter!
The students also found interesting markings on a tree. Some students thought that a snake made these markings. The Kindergarten staff added a music exploration area, a stage, a kitchen and a collection of long sticks to our outdoor classroom. We discussed how to safely use long sticks. The children used loose parts and their imagination in the kitchen, investigated how to build with the sticks and logs, and explored the shelters.
In October and November, we have been very busy exploring, discovering and using our imaginations!
The students dove deep into creating small worlds, writing letters to fairies and having fairies and a gnome visit our classroom.
The students have been:
- Learning more about our two class trees
- Slowing down to look closely in nature
- Exploring and learning about rocks, gemstones, geodes, agates
- Making patterns with loose parts
- Cloud watching
- Looking for minibeasts (slugs, worms, insects, spiders) under rocks
- Exploring seeds from sunflowers and other plants/trees
- Climbing the small trees that we have in our outdoor classroom area
- Investigating and jumping in puddles and making rivers in the mud
- Discovering different ways to use wood boards in our outdoor classroom (e,g, as seeesaws, bridges or ramps).
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