This month in the School-age program, the interests of the children have been all things nature. We have been exploring bugs, flowers and snails. As the weather has been so nice, we have been spending as much time outside as possible!
We have been discovering a variety of bugs outside. We have come across some that are different, some that are the same and some we would rather not play with, like the bees! One afternoon, Kylie came to up to educator Tracy with a snail slowly crawling on her hand. She asked if we could find something to make a home for it once we got inside. While the snail was crawling up her hand we noticed a slimy trail being left behind and wondered what it could be. After doing some research we discovered the “slime” was a mucus used for the movement and stickiness of the snail. Although many children were very eager to pick up the snails and let them crawl on them, Tracy was not as eager to do so!
Another day during our outdoor activities we spent some time on the basketball court. The dandelions were growing everywhere in the school field. Maria and Tanner started collecting them and bringing them over to where there was a crack in the concrete. Tracy watched with great curiosity to see the girls make a beautiful line of yellow dandelions across the centre of the court. The girl’s creativity made the court look amazing! Who knew the dandelion line could make something look so beautiful?
The world we live in is so full of things to discover and the children are very curious about how everything works around them. They have been growing a sense of autonomy by discovering their own comfort level, such as picking up bugs or looking from a distance, and expressing that with their peers. The children are asking "I wonder…" questions which leads us to furthering our research and learning about why the world is the way it is through their interests and curiosity.
