Playtime!

This summer we are inviting a flow of kids to our house.  Since our street is sadly without many youngsters I like to help organize playtime with others.  We have been having big kid play dates with other four and five year olds.  I am hoping this age distinction is not setting up hierarchal behaviors, rather I hope it is just allowing for uninterrupted big kid play. 

Then in order to promote positive open ended and imaginative play I try to keep a list of activities up my sleeves & also add new elements into the yard.  I also suggest always having a snack break & even an art activity (play dough, pastels and watercolors have worked well for us).  

Here are a few of the elements we have introduced so far:

The boys had an idea that kids would want to make tools out of cardboard so we had created a “creation station”… and one of my kiddos said, we could even make boats.   The station has grown and now includes scissors, string, a hole punch and pipe cleaners.  There is starting to be pipe cleaner art all over the yard. 

I set out a laminated card of Washington Birds  and when the kids discovered it and went bird watching.   

We have scrap wood all over the yard (without nails) and it is perfect for building/ stacking/ and painting with mud and also for making balance experiments and activities by putting boards on bricks.  This was a child’s discovery and a great way to explore fulcrums, balance & catapults. 

Last week I hid little animals and had the kids find them in the yard and then build an animal habitat. 

Some of the imaginary events that have occurred:

fishing with sticks (pipe cleaner hooks + fish)

tide pool games

play house

zoo & zoo keeper

The best play comes from the kids themselves so beyond props I try to stay at the periphery.  

Forts, Structures and Ice Cream Shops

Today the boys and a friend built an The Three Bears Ice Cream Shop using scrap wood, bricks, a piece of fabric and a few other odds and ends found about the yard.  They gathered writing materials and tape for their sign.

Although the structure is not fancy the children felt very proud of their work. It took a bit of guidance to actually get the idea going in a solid direction but as the kids started to explore the idea and manipulate the materials they quickly owned it. They made a freezer of ferns and were looking all around for roofing material which I eventually helped them with by suggesting fabric. In retrospect maybe I should have let them come up with that idea.

They were figuring out how to make ice cream as the day wrapped up and it would have been fun to see what they discovered. Sadly, the players may not all be gathered together tomorrow to continue the idea- but we will see what may transpire.

Playing in the Dark

A life is made of moments. My greatest joy these days is watching my children truly engaged in play.  As a teacher and a mother I love to set up opportunities, but of course the magic is how children run take something and play run with it in unexpected ways.  

This weekend just as the sun was setting we made a small fire in the chimenea next to the little play house.  The boys had decorated it for the holidays with chalk and moss and other greens from the garden and it seemed to add to the festivity to start a fire.  

There was joy and excitement trying to help start the fire. Then a bit of fireside banter and even a song before the boys said, "lets go camping."  They took their fold-up camp chairs under their arms and hiked the 50 ft to the corner of the yard under the big holly tree and made a campsite with a campfire of their own (only it was not lit).   They found pots and pans and were fully cooking their own meal when I came over and interrupted them and then they asked," can we have a flashlight or candle or lantern?"  

Papa found a candle votive in a lantern and brought it to them.  Next thing they said, "lets go on a hike" and they were off walking through the small native plantings that we have in our yard (just taller than they are).  It was a great reminder that a yard does not need to be big, especially when playing in the  dark can be so magical.  

As the evening wrapped up.  The boy came to the door as I had went in to warm dinner.  They asked for water, " a few drips of water."  

I said, "Is it to put out your fire?"  They replied yes.  The boys put out their one candle fire.  Papa put out the chimenea fire.  The two hour early evening  adventures ended and it was only 5:30pm.  A reminder of how dark it is this time of the year.  

The Rain is Coming Down

It has been a while since my last post, perhaps I have just been waiting for the weather to change.  In any case, this fall has been glorious.  The leaves have only just now shed the trees.   The low sun accompanied by long shadows has been present each day and the boys have played in leaves, rode their bikes and taken long walks throughout the neighborhood almost every day.

Now the rain has come:  The grey sky a cloak.  The air full of water.   

Nevertheless, the boys are happily playing.  Their mud pit comes alive when the water falls.  Water soaks the soil.  It streams from gutters.  The boys are thrilled.  For the past two hours they have not wanted to come in even though it feels wet and cold to me.  Instead they are happily singing and busily rushing around.  They are creating inventions with string and an old cook pot.  They are floating the wooden boats they made from scrap lumber in the puddle they filling with water from the gutters.

 One moment the mud is asphalt and they are stirring it up.  They have grand visions in mind.  Perhaps,  these visions are informed by the diggers and dump trucks we have been watching excavate the land for a new apartment building that will be dressing the skyline of our neighborhood. In any case the boys are having a great day of play.     

Age Four: Big Play, Imaginative Play

My boys are now almost 4 1/2.  They have crossed into the threshold of being preschoolers with this their play has developed.  Where once they just wanted to try new experiences, now they want to try new games, make up their own games, play with rules, make their own rules, and imagine!  It is a beautiful time.  I try to make sure that each day they get unstructured play time that lets them create their own worlds and their own play.  Lately much of their play happens on their balance bikes as they zoom around our hilly yard.  It is not so big, but there is room for loops, boards and hoses to ride over, and dirt and woodchips to land in- creating giant dust storms and practicing dramatic falls.  The boys have a neighbor friend who often comes over and adds chants and song to their rides which they echo with glee.  And today they started to have a more cohesive storyline to their bike loops.   Their bike train has turned into firetrucks.   They put out fires and fight dragons.