We have been very lucky this winter to have such plentiful snow to fuel our outdoor play and curiosity. From how tall can a snow mountain be, to how deep can we dig this pit, School-age 3 happily keeps asking these important outdoor questions. February has been chilly, but our warm hearts keep us cozy!
Despite the chill, we've been exploring the joys of outdoor cooperation through burying each other. This whole-body sensory activity is very important to experience as the pressure and containment burying provides is wonderful for vestibular senses, which is the movement, gravity, and balancing senses that allow us to move smoothly, as well as proprioception, which refers to the feeling of where the body is in space. The cooperation of burying their friends has also been a great way to strengthen friendship bonds between them and the people they’re burying, fostering their sense of belonging and social skills.
It’s not just about inviting our friends into this super exciting activity; Educator Ali has been helping out burying our friends, as well as being buried too! When his foot got stuck in a snow hill, the children took this as the perfect opportunity to form unlikely cooperation groups as they all worked together to cover his body with the cold, fluffy substance, causing joy and laughter from all. Eventually, Ali was able to get free, but it did involve help from the children who had initially buried him.
On another day, Ella A and Kylah asked their friend Eve to bury them in the snow mountain. Finding an area that created a crater in the pile, both girls sat down and awaited their friend to cover their lower bodies with snow. Eve gathered arms full of snow and carried it over, patting it down firmly to ensure their legs were completely buried, so much so that both Ella and Kylah expressed how difficult it was to move! The end result looked as if both girls became a part of the mountain!
February has been such a great month for learning in the snow! Hopefully this fun doesn’t melt too soon, we still have lots of activities to try out!
