We have had some glorious days this week. Although officially still spring, the last couple of days have been like summer, hot and sunny. Our garden is calling out to us and on these hot days we move our mats and pillows to the peace pole deck.
| The peace pole deck is mostly shaded from the hot sun and a nice place to come together. We listen to a story, "What colour is love?", by Linda Strachan and David Wojtowycz. |  |
"What colour is love?" is a beautiful story exploring the different colours, finishing with the conclusion that the colour of love is every colour, everything, everywhere, all around, "because nothing else matters when it's love that you've found". A wonderful book to share with young children. It sets the tone for the rest of our afternoon.
After listening to the story we seem to all have this need to spend more time in our peaceful garden. We decide to take a walk, through our own garden. We discover there are lots of things to explore and investigate. What is hiding under the rocks? What we can find when we move the logs? Is there anything living under the tussock grass bushes? How many weta are visiting the weta hotel? What is the name of this clingy weed? How does this acorn seedling get here? There is so much to see, feel, smell, hear and even taste, although we don't pursue the latter.
We see "enormous" worms and"hundreds" of slaters. We identify buttercups and bedstraw and even find some bulbs (yes, people used to eat those during the winter of 1945 in Word War II, that started a discussion in itself). We blow the white stars of a dandelion and make a wish.
 | We count two weta in the hotel. We look at the different pine cones, their shape, size and texture. We find acorns, some have sprouted. We see a spider carrying its eggs, and we find a spider nest in the bushes. We stroll through the kneehigh grass, hmm, that would be a fun place for playing hide and seek. |
As we maneuver our way through our wild garden, we have to balance over logs, climb over rocks and walk over unleveled varied surface, unlike a smooth concrete patch. The physical challenge to keep our balance requires gross motorskills, while handling magnifying glasses to inspect spider eggs and using tweezers to dislodge seeds from the pinecones requires fine hand/eye coordination.
| It is hot and we sit down for a rest. Roger, our rabbit, joins us and we pat his soft fur. Some of us lay down and watch the clouds. |  |
Young children create their own perceptions of the world and think in concrete terms, with their body, their mind and their heart. They learn about everything, all the time, and they do it full steam ahead. For them to learn effectively and joyfully, they must be engaged. During their first few years, they absorb with their senses. For knowledge and skills to really stick in their brain, it must go through their body and their heart. Their social and emotional life is filled with constant challenges as they are navigating their way through social relationships and its rules. They are learning to recognise, accept and express their own feelings as well as the feelings of others. They need time and space to do so.
Our nature walk, through our own garden, brings us together as a group, sharing our curiosity, enthusiasm and excitement. It is a wonderful way to foster relationships with each other and the creatures we share this planet with and to nurture self-motivation, self-discipline and not to forget curiosity, something that so many children lose along the way to adulthood.
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