After spending a few weeks sledding and exploring in the sculpture park, this week’s nature walk led us back into the woods. Voyaging through the snowy woods presented us with some problems…
As we entered the woods just beyond the hearts, we wondered,
How do we know where to walk with the trail covered in snow?
“Follow the footmarks.”
IAN
“Follow the red trail sign!”
CHARLIE N
As we came down the hill towards the narrow wooden bridge that we had walked over so many times before, we discovered that it wasn’t anywhere in sight.
Where is the bridge?
We finally landed at Owl Tree and delighted at the sight of our familiar play spaces. A game of family and wolves quickly emerged from the stick fort, but we couldn’t help but notice an anxious chipmunk scurrying about. With so many trees and hiding spots, why was he continuing to run back and forth on one side of the stick fort? What was he trying to tell us?
What is this chipmunk doing?
Some problems, such as the anxious chipmunk, take longer to think about and solve. We have continued to wonder about this chipmunk, even after returning back to the studio. At meeting on Friday, we talked about what spring means for many woodland creatures. Was this chipmunk protecting a nest of babies? If so, how can we help protect them from others who might come their way? We challenged the children to spend some time thinking about this.
After all, we are problem solvers.
