01/25/2024
This week, I took Mavi and Daisy into the forest for a walk and to explore how the snow changes the environment. We got the place that I would always take the children when the daycare was open and Mavi immediately went to his favourite place, a rotting tree. I placed Daisy down next to him and he began to talk to her about the tree. Mavi walked over to a birch tree and noticed that it didn't have any leaves so I began to question where they went. He said they floated away to space. I took a photo of his view looking up to use in a provocation set up.
I pulled back the mitts of Daisy's snowsuit and allowed her to feel the textures of the rotting tree and the snow.
As we left the forest Mavi saw a small oak tree with a few leaves on it. He picked one off and said "It will be lonely all by itself. I will bring it home with me". Mavi brought the leaf inside and wanted to draw where it came from. I gave him a handheld magnifying glass to look at the leaf. He used some coloured resin circles I had made to look at the leaf through.
I created a space for Mavi and Daisy to continue their forest explorations inside. I ordered a microscope for Mavi to further his inquiry. Using the photo I took of Mavi's view of the bare trees, I covered it with transparent paper and placed some Stabilo woody pencils so that Mavi and Daisy could draw over the photo. I also added some birch bark that my Mother-in-law harvested over 40 years ago to the space to add some sensory interest and something else to examine under the microscope. Mavi and Daisy were excited to come and explore the materials. I worked alongside Mavi to use the microscope, looking at the veins and their purpose. Mavi and Daisy drew on the photo of the bare trees. Daisy spent time tapping the tree branches together and feeling the birch bark.