Forest Friday

 What an amazing forest day we had today!  

As we entered the forest I noticed much of the same activities from last week.  I wondered if we might have another day of stick adventures.

                                                 "I'm sleeping on the house-car-bed." CF

"We are drawing in the mud." DM MS

"Look at this GIANT stick!" MT

"It's bigger than you!" RM

Usually your teachers are busily involved following around great adventures, or investigating amazing bits of nature.  Today was busy and amazing, but your teachers hardly moved an inch.  Well...that isn't exactly accurate.  We moved a LOT, but never left our spots!  

Every forest day we have teachers positioned inside the forest and outside the forest.  Today, Ms N was at the top of the forest, and Ms L was inside.  With all of the leaves completely blanketing the ground it was hard to tell where the paths were.  Where did the forest end and the grassy hill begin?  Our friends began investigating the big hill outside the forest and almost immediately started doing what children do best...they created FUN!

The friends were rolling down the hill like giant logs.  There was laughter and smiling all around both from children and teachers.  Some friends stood up and began running down the hill as fast as they could...right into the arms of Ms L!  They were scooped up, spun around, and set back down to run again!

"Hey!  Everyone!  Line up behind me!  Everyone come here!" ESE 

With this cry of invitation from a friend other Birch friends began a morning filled with fun.  One teacher at the top, another at the bottom, and a connection between them of children being "blasted off, running down, and soaring up and around".  This was fun, to be sure, but it was so much more than that.  It was a bond being built between teachers and students.  These friends knew they would be safely "blasted off", they knew they would be safely caught at the bottom.  There was trust that they knew they were safe, there was joy in the experience, there was confidence in trying a physical activity that was challenging, there was pride in initiating something that was SO fun, there was belonging as we all joined in as a Birch family, there was inclusion as we invited the friends from the Oak room to join us too.  

A simple run down the hill...and yet so much more!