Our new group includes 9 explorers from last year’s Woods and Wetlands summer adventures. Add to that a wide developmental range and we have a hodge-podge of personalities, abilities, and experience! Compared to our last two groups this one got off to what felt like an awkward start, at least for the teachers. But after four mornings together, we have settled in nicely. It’s fun to watch the kids with prior experience because they are more independent, confident, and they are able to deepen and broaden their explorations. Nature-play and Play-Based Learning naturally lend themselves to scaffolding as children instinctively challenge themselves at that “just right” level at which they take appropriate risks and set themselves to learning and growing by pursuing their own interests. We offer support in the form of thinking questions and encouragement, stepping back when possible and stepping in when needed.
Social Skills
Taking turnsGreeting with names, eye contact, and physically passing a relevant nature object.Learning by watching others.Waiting for a turn.Using Michigan wildlife finger puppets for our greeting..Laughter builds social bonds.Kids need to have opportunities to be silly while learning.Mr. Porcupine took charge for our greeting.Pretending to be someone or something different builds empathy.Giggling + eye contact.Building a fort takes teamwork.Arms up while we pass by some nettles. Kids are also holding branches for each other and watching out for one another.Connecting with oneself can help us be better, more mindful friends to ourselves and each other.“Hiding” behind a different persona than their own gives young children a chance to “try on” and identify with those who are different from us.Learning we can also just be silent with a friend sometimes.
Do-Overs
Childhood is the best time to learn from mistakes. One of our new explorers had a rough start, socially speaking. Some poor choices were made. But we don’t use loss of participating as a consequence. Instead we try to always offer chances for “do-overs,” in conjunction with giving children specific words and strategies they need for round 2. How else can we learn unless we get to try again?
Patterns and Treasures
I usually introduce a theme of sorts during Morning Meeting. Sometimes I plan it but often the kids’ energy and/or interests prompt me to modify it on the spot. Teaching and earning without blocking the natural flow always works better for me and for the kids. During our first week we introduced Nature Treasures and Patterns in Nature. These two “lessons” are intertwined and next week we will blend them in with learning about different trees based on leaf recognition.
Some treasures are only kept long enough to observe before releasing.Our Nature Treasure Museum is growing. Noticing leaf patterns led to trying out leaf rubbings.We asked the kids to try drawing at least one of the 8 nature patterns I introduced.Most of our explorers drew more than one of the patterns.Two great books for introducing fractals (patterns) are Spin Flow Grow and Nothing to Do.Looking at a picture or an actual subject makes drawing it much easier.Tree bark is patterned too. Hugging “Mama Oak.” Thank you to trees for their cool shade and air-making!Mushrooms have interesting patterns.Introducing Nature Treasures.We intentionally teach them how to handle fragile things carefully. This builds trust both ways.Letter Y treasure was added to our museum.Beetles make what looks like a secret language on logs.Animal tracks are patterns too.Ordinary beetle by day, magical fairy lantern by night.This little guy knows a LOT about nature and is an intrepid explorer! (The child, not the toad.)Translation: “Baby deer jaw.” (found in the woods)Two damselflies alighted on his arm.Being gentle with wildlife is a good sign for the adult he will become one day.Some mushrooms have gills, others have pores.They discovered clay rocks which led to painting.Fancy fungi!This lovely girl made a beautiful web to trap our least favorite bugs.Finding treasure on the bottom of the creek.Experimenting with ways to harmlessly affect the world around us.Clay painting.Galls on a leaf.A wildflower called “Indian Pipe,” is unable to make its own food, but is not a fungi. Snail shells have the spiral pattern.We broke open this oak gall to find out what was inside.Great Blue Heron tracks?No one is ever bored when I bring out the treasure box!
Sensory Experiences
Exploring in nature during Woods and Wetlands is a full, sensory experience. Children learn best by using their bodies. “Move to learn and learn to move.”
Mud gloves for safe handling of small creatures.They worked really hard to get this dead tree trunk detached.Purposeful? Maybe not, but much was learned in the process! Looking up into the branching patterns against a blue sky. Noticing our breath. Getting in touch with our own bodies.There’s nothing like a cold river on a hot day.Measuring and estimating water depth. “Ms. T, why is the water not as high up on you?” (Informal math discussion followed.)Noticing places where the water is warmer or cooler. Wondering and hypothesizing. Brain Gym: Criss CrossThough the neighbor cut down most of our Logjam Bridge, we didn’t let that stop us. This group is more careful about getting their boots stuck in the muck.I teach stick usage and safety so I can trust everyone with sticks. Offering trust helps children learn to be trustworthy.I like to draw attention to noticing the scents when we enter the woods. Humans forget to use their sniffers as much as we could.A “dead” log is full of more life than a living tree!The texture of rich, dark, muddy soil is a novelty for most kids. It is easy to rinse right off in the river.High five!Slugs are fascinating. Doctors have worked to replicate slug slime to use in places of internal stitches for surgery.Resisting the current or allowing it to push them helps develop their vestibular systems.Sniffing the skunk cabbage.There is much to see and learn when we get close to the earth.Some of us enjoy nature quietly.We make time for either journaling or investigating at our own Sit Spots.Only do what you feel safe doing. Find your way across in the way that works for you.Feeling the surface of the water without immersing our hands.Coordination and strength building. finding our balance.Brain Gym helps both of our brain hemispheres to work together and can shift us into using our prefrontal cortex which calms us and makes reasoning possible.Half the group went adventuring with me along the river’s edge where we encountered a fallen, but still living and strong, maple tree. Some were experienced climbers while others were a little scared but still ready to try to navigate horizontal tree climbing.She has grown so much since last summer! Brave explorer!
T.
P.S. Mini-rant: I so wish that nature play and play based learning were woven into school curriculums at every level. Teachers need to be trained so that they can feel safe and comfortable taking their kids out into the wild. Time to do so ought to be guaranteed and protected as a necessary part of the school day or week. Funding programs like Woods and Wetlands throughout the school year would make such a positive impact on the mental, physical, social, emotional, and academic health of every student AND their teachers! Yet schools are, instead, adding MORE testing and MORE curriculum, while cutting back on recess and continuing outdated models of schooling that clearly are not working for the majority of children. The scientific evidence demonstrating what works is being largely ignored by those who control the curriculums, testing regimes, and school day structure in this country.
I am an and outdoor educator with a master's in early childhood development. I taught elementary school for 20 years and now own Woods and Wetlands LLC, offering programs for local children to engage in nature study through play and exploration-based learning. My programs are all outdoors in whatever "wild" spaces are available. I live in Rockford, Michigan with my husband, dog, and three cats. My unique, therapeutic, one and a half hour programs help children to connect with the natural world and with themselves.
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