Dancing in The Wind at Woodside National Historic Site
A funfair of swirling leaves welcomed the forest school explorers at Woodside. The children observed the galloping clouds and encouraged us educators to use our imagination in describing what magical creatures we saw in the ever changing silhouettes. The children were exploring and welcoming seasonal changes through intentionally focused senses. The children challenged us with questions such as: What does Spring smell like, sound like, look like, feel like and taste like?
We explored the power of wind using textiles and sticks. The children observed that the textiles “made winds visible” giving colour and movement to transparency. Inspired by this deep observation we observed the movements of natural loose materials such as leaves and grass strands moving through the air. To our surprise we had to move with the wind constantly as the direction of the wind changed constantly. We decided to research this phenomenon. The children’s question was: “What makes the wind turn around?”
We explored the meadow trails and gardens looking and smelling the new season. The children gently knelt by carpets of Snowdrops gently observing and marvelling at the flowers. We stopped at the museum and read books about the life of flowers, and our relationship with flowers. We recognized many edible and aromatic flowers in the books. The children remembered several blossoms we use in our diet such as Camomiles, Pansies, Cloves, Saffron, Elderberry and many more. Dina and Alana brewed aromatic tea for us to help us “taste Spring”. We gathered around our Three Sisters Garden with Dewe’igan who led us in exploring the garden and discovering new growth and precious seeds that lay dormant under the snow. We discovered that the brave little Strawberry Plants were already growing strong.
The warm temperatures encouraged the children to take off their heavy coats and run with the new sensation of lightness. The children incorporated the Museum building into their dramatic play, ghosts appeared for “Spring Trick-or-treat!”. We learned as a community and formulated new research questions which will encourage us to learn more. Please share your new discoveries about Spring to enrich our explorations.
Éva M.
