Squirrel Party
During our first week of Farm & Forest, the children (some new and returning) excitedly made their way to Discover Woods. At the beginning of every play experience, the children often rush to gather all of the materials and to try all of the ‘things’ before finally settling into their chosen play schemes.
Two of our busier boys were engaged in fine-tuning a fort they started earlier in the week. They each took turns gathering tools and hauling heavy loose parts to their area. I observed as they dug holes with the shovels and encouraged one another to hammer a rotting stump. They finally worked up a sweat and decided it was time for some water.
While on the way back from the water station, one of the boys noticed a shredded pinecone on a fallen log. “Look at this mess!” he exclaimed. To which I replied, “Looks like there was a squirrel party!” He giggled at the absurdity of it, but it was obvious he was curious.
Christa, one of our teachers, walked over just as we were talking about the ‘squirrel party.’ She asked, “I wonder where this mess came from? Let’s look around and see if we can figure out what it is.” Christa and the little boy slowly crouched on the ground, and sure enough, empty cobs lay scattered on the forest floor. The little boy’s partner cautiously walked over to see what was happening. “Look at this! There are no seeds on this pine cone!” Christa and the boys had a brief conversation, making predictions and laughing about how much the squirrels could eat. Slowly, one by one, the boys picked up each of the cobs and laid them side-by-side on the fallen log. They each took turns counting the cobs and adding to the line-up as they found them. Eventually, they lost interest and went back to their building project.
As the day wore on and they engaged more with the space, every once in a while, they noticed other ‘party’ messes. Each time, they exclaimed, “Look! There’s another squirrel party.” The following week, upon entering the play space, the boys once again noticed the remnants of food left behind. This time, the boys excitedly enlightened a new friend about the squirrels. The new friend thought it was a clue that BigFoot had left behind, but the boys informed him that it was something much smaller, tearing away the seeds from the cob.
Here’s what we know:
New learning is constructed and built upon experiences. Learning experiences can be as simple as narrating a silly story to grab a child’s attention to notice and observe a little closer. These experiences can naturally flow into real-life opportunities to ‘show what they know’ without feeling forced or coerced.
Curiosity makes our brains more receptive to learning. Curious children ask a lot of questions and eventually, they actively seek out the answers. So, if we tap into the well-spring of children’s curiosities, we instill a strong desire ‘to know’ and it creates a whole community of individuals that enjoy the sensation of learning something new! Basically, learning is pleasurable when curiosity is indulged.
We won’t know the lasting impact of the ‘squirrel party’ on our preschoolers, but for a brief moment in time, they were motivated to know more, and we just keep indulging their questions and wonderings as they appear!
