The Cedar A children have been experimenting with sidewalk art, using chalk, coals, sticks and other art media to expand on their creative projects. A group requested coals from our fire pit with a specific plan in mind. The children remembered from their previous explorations and research that coal enriches soil. They worked as a team on pulverizing the coal pieces with the help of rocks and created “Medicine” for the trees. The group visited each tree within our boundaries and poured the medicine on each tree discussing how the liquid will help the trees and soil stay healthy and grow.
Fall’s gifts were incorporated into the children’s repertoire of loose parts. The children used their imagination in creating with textures and colours of the leaves. The children tossed armfuls of colourful foliage into the air testing the strength and direction of the wind. The Leaves were used to create a variety of sounds. Brilliant Leaves were arranged to create fires for “leaf kebabs”.
The educators invited the children on a storytelling walk, finding pages of the story along the path in the Forest. Looking for the next page of the story invited the children to engage with the ground level of the Forest, noticing acorns, plants, insects, diverse leaf shapes and colours under their feet.
The children created a Fall Thank You card for our mentor, Parks Canada Ranger, Dan, who enriches our learning experiences throughout the Seasons.
Marcia, Jessica and Faye invited the children to gather around the fire and roasted “spider dogs”. The children engaged in interactive Anishinaabeg story telling, singing, philosophy and language learning with Dewe’igan.
We reflected on our previous discussions regarding the pigments that emerge in fall leaves. We revisited our learning reflecting on our previous and new knowledge of the Season. Did you know that colours we see in fall are the tree specific pigments, “the real colours” of the leaves? The green colour is the colour of chlorophyll, “the magical energy”, plants create to feed themselves and other life forms in ecosystems.
