Brrrr… what a cold week it has been! Last week on Friday we experienced ice - and for some children this may have been the first time they can remember seeing ice. This is when I thought exploring ice and the main factors of winter would be a great opportunity, and it would also link in nicely with our ‘Penguin Hunt’ story which has started in the Burrow.
On Monday typically it rained, however this still allowed us to explore winter. We asked the children questions such as where have all the leaves gone? Where have the bugs gone? This got the children thinking and also enabled them to ask any questions or share any thoughts.
Luckily from Tuesday onwards we had lots of ice settle overnight… brilliant!!! On our way to have snack we recognised the changes in the environment; the grass was white, the water was frozen and I could see my breath. This got the children wondering and exploring even before the session had officially started!
After our snack we told the children we will be visiting the pond, what surprised me is how many children knew where the pond was. We don’t go there all the time and the paddock is a very big place, it also made me feel very proud! At the pond the children couldn’t believe what had happened “wow”, “look, where’s the water?” were many phrases that I heard. We explored the ice by dropping things in, touching it with our hands and watching me try and break it with a metal rod. On Wednesday morning I couldn’t break the ice due to it being so thick! We had a group conversation about ice and we got lots of communication out of the children which was lovely to see.
After we visited the pond some groups had time to visit the farm and explore how winter has affected it and we walked very carefully over some icy puddles with the help from our adults.
The staff in the Burrow couldn’t help but stand back at see how beautiful the ice made our place of work; with sparkling trees, a thick layer of ice over everything made us feel very lucky!
Thanks for reading… be safe in the icy conditions!
Lauren