TOCA

We were all under the Magic Tree and J stood up and said he wanted to see the blackberries. I watched him running there, but in the middle of the way he threw himself on the ground and stayed there. I walked fast towards him to see if he was ok, knowing already he was fine. Got next to him and all I saw was a sweet boy enjoying the freedom, rolling on the tall grass, feeling the sun, the grass, the warmth…… I can relate to the feeling. I often feel it too and I know how restoring it is. I sat with him, he smiled at me, and with no words we went to see the blackberries.

It seemed nothing happened, but something did happen. And it was as big as the universe. ❤️

Thank you, J. !

❤️❄️

After lunch the kids wanted to go to the waterfall but R was too tired to walk so I stayed with him. We didn’t have much to do under the thin rain while we waited for our group to come back. Until we found 3 chestnuts. 😊
Then R. started to look for other little things and that’s what we made together with all we found ❤️

Playing kitchen is something that every child love to do. At TOCA we like to collect and keep things. We find in the forest all kind of materials and we assemble them every morning so the children can use.
Every day is a different menu😊
In the summer the main ingredient is blackberries😍

Making smoothies❤️

Building a fairy house🧚‍♀️🧚‍♀️

Come to join us for a good fun this July and August! Registration is open!!

“The House
The body
The Self

This expression led us to a deep reflection on the relationship established by the child between the construction of this place, named by her/him as “my home” and the construction of her/his “self”. Two apparently distinct aspects came together there...
The house and the self
Outside and inside
The internal and external space
Body and soul”

Peo - in her book ‘Casa Redonda - Uma experiência em educação’

Children of all places play the same things.

It all started one morning, when passing by an closed area in the park, we found lots of white mulberry trees that had been pulled off (apparently they are very evasive and end up killing other species) and we’re there, just drying with the time. The wood is really good and we decided to bring those thin trees to our Magic Tree area.
The kids were very excited about the new sticks. They make very good sounds and bring lots of possibilities to play.
I was still cutting the long branches in pieces when I saw W. starting to make something on the ground. I already knew what was going to come and I stoped what I was doing to watch him.
The house.
This is not the first time that I see children building a house. It happens all the time. But somehow, every time is unique.
The others come close, recognize it and want to come in. Everyone participates. It’s a home for all. It’s a moment of construction of the self but also of construction of a community.

Today is officially the first day of Spring!
We’ve been noticing the first blooming, the birds coming back, the sun getting warmer each day.
We love Spring and all the beauty that comes with it.❤️