With the snow on the ground outside, it has changed the way the preschoolers have been exploring this space. Pulling toboggans, shoveling or digging in the snow have been the three main things.
Lately Mary had noticed how Birdie, Sadie, Finley and Rose during different times have been trying to remove the extra snow from the stumps and digging to find the logs on the ground. As Mary watched them, they then tried to get up on the stump and stand on them, being covered in ice that did not work in their favour.
Mary questioned herself thinking, are they seeing how much snow has fallen, are they missing the logs for walking on, or are they trying to foster and strengthen their balancing skills like they did in the Summer and Fall. This gave Mary an idea for an activity that she could provide inside which would be safer and challenge one’s balancing skills.
Mary provided two different styles of stepping stones that were different heights and sizes. The tops of each stone also had a variety of patterns on them which could make it a bit trickier.
One at a time, the children began to walk the stones moving very slowly and stopping to see the next stone before making the move with their feet. Here the children seemed to be very cautious in their movements maybe because they could visually see the difference in each stone. As the children continued to walk the stones and became more comfortable, they walked at quicker paces. Mary added not one but two hula hoops between the stones and asked the children to go through the hoop while stepping from one stone to another. Once again, every child attempted this task, but for most of them the speed slowed down again and some children asked for a hand, held onto the hoop or stepped off a stone and stood between the two.
With time and practice the children seemed to gain confidence in themselves and try doing their own tricks. Hugo was able to alternate his feet which gave him a good fast pace. António would try to jump from the tall ones to the short ones which slowed him down some, but he was able to figure out his distances and made it work most times. Finley, Zander and Nina would race around the stones following each other laughing trying not to fall off.
This activity not only fostered skills with body awareness and balance but strengthened each child’s individual needs with self-concept, trust in others and risk taking.
