It was a slightly grey day, with a very slight drizzle, however we set up for outside activities. One of our goals for this play and learn is to encourage families and caregivers to just be outside with their children whatever the weather. It is a great lesson for children to learn that they can go out almost every day. It is also a great way for children to learn about their world, gain vocabulary, and have fun.
Our activities were mostly stations which allowed children to ramble from one area to another as they desired. We had a bubble station with both pre-made bubble mixtures & homemade bubble mixtures. The latter being a bit more finicky- but it allowed kids to make their own pipe cleaner bubble forms & slightly larger bubbles.
There was also a station with pre-cut leaves which kids painted on with liquid watercolor paints using eye droppers. I had paint brushes on hand in case we had very young children. This was helpful.
There was the parachute which this time the kids mostly wanted to sit on while the adults "made" waves. There were many smile & a few tears (when someone got bumped by a ball). It reminded me that I need to do a refresher on parachute games and songs.
Finally we also had two stories: Leaf Man by Louis Ehrlet and a book with kids yoga called "You are a lion! And Other Fun Yoga Poses" by Taeeun Yoo in which the children got to act out animals. It was a nice continuation from a poem we acted out... "Gray Squirrel, Gray Squirrel." In which the kids act out a squirrel shaking their bushy tales. Some of the kids wanted to add their own animals so we were also all were bunnies hopping around.
Another goal of the group is to get families hiking in Urban Greenspaces; however this has not yet happened since our site does not back onto a forested greenbelt or natural area and the walk to the woods is about three blocks. Perhaps we will add an alternative site for hiking every first week of the month. That would bring us to two meet-ups a month.
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