Into the Woods
By Miss Amanda
Lately I have been taking the children out
into the forest for some of the morning play.
It is interesting to note the changes in play as we move from the play
yard out into the woods. In the play
yard I noticed that I have to do a lot more interjecting telling the children
not to rough house, snatch or fight over toys. Most of the play I see is media based
pretending to be transformers, characters from frozen, ninja turtles, or some
other show. But this all changes when we
step into the forest. Things become
calmer and I can remove myself from the children’s play observing them instead
or redirecting them. There are no longer
toys to fight over or snatch from one another. I have noticed that the play itself is less
media based and more imaginative and creative. The children welcome the play to everyone
instead of just one or two friends. Depending
on where we play in the woods the children pretend they are a family, they
pretend to eat breakfast together then depart to their job. Some gather/prepare for their next meal,
others take care of their sick child, or make a fire to stay warm. Sometimes the children like to pretend a log
is their ice cream store, the children search around finding different rocks,
plants, acorns, and sticks to be different flavors of ice cream. Other times they are lost dogs in the woods
trying to find their owners. Even the
younger children join in the play imitating what their friends are doing and
adding their own twist. I usually only
interject to tell the children that there are getting too far and need to keep
the play at a closer distance. We are
very lucky to have such a great outdoor environment for the children to play
and explore.
“There's no way that we can help children to
learn to love and preserve this planet, if we don't give them direct
experiences with the miracles and blessings of nature.” -
Anita Olds
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