Goodbye January and hello February. I am continually looking for the silver linings in the Covid year, and this week I found a big one. It’s something I’ve been thinking of since we became separate pods that don’t play together outside. We have always had a whole lot of rules on the playground that pertain to safety, but this year we have smaller groups and we have relaxed some of the rules we thought were necessary to keep twenty some children safe together. We’ve never gone down the slide headfirst!! But now we do. Carefully. We have certainly never been sledding down the big hill at school!! I’ve been reading more about the value of risky play in young children, and with your permission, we started sledding. It was magnificent.
We started with one sled and our roll and took turns one by one going down the big hill outside of our door. The kids cheered for each other and helped each other get the sled up the hill. Some of us were worried that we might never get a turn, but we all took three long rides down the hill. Later, we got two more sleds and tried out the smaller hills on the playground. We were really sad when it started to melt.
The slide has never been more fun. Thank you so much to the Honeybee parents for providing wonderful warm gear that made all this possible. We played for an hour with a sub zero wind chill, and no one said that they were cold.
A little sunshine makes such a difference.
We’ve been playing, creating, and reading about space travel. You can check instagram to see some of the books we have been reading. The kids have loved building our cardboard rocket. If you have more boxes please bring them in. We received a wonderful gift from the Friendly Fox class, their cardboard Rover, but it was mistakenly recycled on Friday, and the Honeybees were really just getting started. We’ll have to build a new one, and that takes at least three preschooler sized boxes.
I made everyone name tickets, and we have been using tickets as a way to wait for our turn in the space rover. Ask your Honeybee about their “ticket to ride.”
We added this song to our dance party mix as well as “Wild Thing” by the Troggs. { We have been re-reading Where the Wild Things Are }
This week we’ll tour the International Space Station, hear astronauts read stories from outer space, and watch how astronauts get back and forth to and from the space station. We’ll also create some ART from the HEART for Valentines Day. We can exchange Valentines on Friday. We have 11 kids in our class. Thursday kids can bring their Valentines on Thursday and get their Valentine bag on Monday. Our only rule is no candy. I’m thinking of a Valentine Pajama party on Friday, and maybe I can strawberries to dip in honey.
Just a quick note that I’m getting my second Covid vaccine on Tuesday afternoon and I’ve lined up a sub just in case I feel yucky on Wednesday. Sedona is doing after school program on Tuesday. I’ll leave lots of things to do and play in case I feel horrible. (And I”ll be grateful even if I do.) Thursday I have an early morning doctor’s appointment at eight, and you may see a sub for an hour on Thursday. It’s a parent and a familiar face.
Our cat Pickles is taking a ride on the rocket ship!
This mural project just gets more beautiful. I just put out small brushes and “solar system” sparkling colors and we talked about planets, suns, stars, and nebulas.
