Happy Earth Day

So, yesterday was Earth Day.  I didn’t plan anything specific to celebrate – I prefer child led activities over planned instruction.

One year I had a four-year-old who chose to make ‘confetti’ out of the leftover bits of a hay bale along with miscellaneous items she collected from our garden. She spent the rest of our outdoor play time running around the yard tossing the confetti into the air and cheering ‘Celebrate the Earth!’   The other children joined in.

This year my preschool group is very young.  Early in the day, after everyone arrived and we were playing together in the playroom I mentioned to the group that it was Earth Day.  There was casual interest as I talked about the Earth, the environment, celebrations etc.  Mostly the toddlers just played as they should.

We continued through our regular schedule much like any other day – indoor & outdoor play, meal times, potty breaks, nap etc.  On several occasions the children initiated ‘birthday parties’ – one of their favourite dramatic play themes.  It took me a while to catch on – probably longer than it should have.

After nap time as the first child got up he said ‘Happy Birthday Cheryl’ and then ran off to play.  As I put away the cots and blankets other children came over to wish me a happy birthday too.  Some offered hugs too.  That’s when I finally realized what was going on and tried to fix it.

Me: ‘It’s Earth day, not my birthdayEARTH day’.

Toddlers: ‘Happy Birthday Cheryl’.

Me: ‘No, EARTH day. E-A-R-T-H Earth day’ (spelling for toddlers like that might help).  I showed them the globe and a world map.  ‘Earth‘.

Toddlers: ‘Cake?’

Sigh.  No, no cake.  I didn’t even think of having cake on Earth Day.  In fact, it was hard to think of doing anything different on Earth day because around here we always celebrate nature and the Earth.  We don’t need a special day for that.

Earth day

Going for a Walk

I love hiking.  My favourite outings to take the children on are those that allow us to explore our neighbourhood, nearby parks or hiking trails in forests and nature preserves around the city. Adventures like collecting leaves in the fall, following footprints in the snow in the winter, watching the activities of the birds in the spring or checking out the trees and plants in various seasons.

Many years ago I used a Safe-T-Line when out walking with a group of young children.  It looks similar to this one which is available at Quality Classrooms

15-04-walk01Mine has twelve pieces in total – two adult belts with a long lead, two additional extensions which can be attached to the adult belts, and eight children’s belts with clips.  I usually wore both the adult belts and fitted each toddler with a waist belt before we headed out.

Most of the time the children roamed freely through familiar trails and open spaces. However the walking line came in handy for the parts of the outing where we encountered busy roadways, major intersections or large crowds where noise and distractions made it difficult to communicate.  I could quickly attach the toddlers belts to my belts to ensure we all stayed together until we reached an area where we could explore independently again.

It was like having extra hands and the best part was that all of us had our ‘real’ hands free to pick up treasure along the way, point out exciting things we saw, wave at passing motorists, tie shoes etc.  It allowed the toddlers to venture freely within an acceptably safe distance.  They could begin to learn self control and to follow verbal directions.  Even the strong willed toddlers who balked at holding hands and staying with the group seemed to feel independent.

Then, a few years ago when my coordinator was here for a licensing visit she informed me that I was not allowed to use the safety line as it was designed because it ‘restrained’ the children.  I was instructed to make the belts into loops and have the children hold the loops with their hands – as long as they were free to let go when they chose to.   Sigh.

I don’t really mind not being able to use the safety line but it has limited our outings.  When new children are enrolled our walks are very short – just out the front door around the block and in the back yard to play.  Once I am confident that they understand the safety rules we expand the distance we can travel a block at a time.  I never take the entire toddler group beyond our secluded residential area and I rarely let the children decide the route – those major intersections are so enticing.

Recently, curious to see if my new coordinator would have the same response as the previous one, I asked for her opinion on the safety line.  She reiterated that the children could hold on to the belts with their hands but the belts could not be attached to the children as this would be considered restraining the children.  Just to clarify I then asked if it was acceptable to put them in a stroller with a belt.  She said yes.

So, I still can’t use the safety line as it was designed but I could go for a ‘walk’ if I piled my group of toddlers into one of these.

15-04-walk03

Apparently a five point harness in a vehicle that doesn’t allow the children to touch the ground or anything else is not considered a restraint.

I would disagree.

Outdoor Activities

Spring is here and I’m finding it difficult to stay indoors.  Still, there is a lot of indoor work to do so sometimes I have to.  Luckily the children and I have been able to spend several hours outdoors each day.  Instead of spending too much time sitting here writing I’ll just post a few pictures and a brief description of some of their recent activities.

One day during spring break the children built ‘bridges’ all around the gravel area.  This activity was initiated by one of the children but all of the others joined in.  Everyone used the bridges/walkways.  Everyone helped create and modify the paths as needed.  There was no bickering, grabbing/pushing, or screeching ‘MINE!’ when pieces were rearranged.

15-04-bridge01The cooperation was amazing 🙂

15-04-bridge02Last week there was another magical cooperative activity.  The three-year-old built a ‘fire’ and roasted ‘marshmallows’;

15-04-marsh01She then shared them with her friends who were eager to accept her invitation to join the camp out;

15-04-marsh02On Friday we went for a super long walk up and down every street in the neighbourhood.  These toddlers are becoming expert hikers!  They are also very observant.  These one and two year olds were easily able to spot the woodpecker when they heard the sound.  The bird was barely visible so high up in the tree that my phone camera on maximum zoom could not capture it.  Still the toddlers focused on it and stood silently for over five minutes watching the busy bird.

15-04-walk01They also got excited about a ‘spaceship’ – this one took me longer to locate and not all the toddlers could see it but at least one was really thrilled about it;

15-04-walk02Love the imagination.