Learning Story – Adapting to the Cold Weather
The Week of January 16, 2024
What Happened?
What an incredible day of play and exploration in cold weather! We talked about self care and safety, how important it is to eat, drink and pee to keep warm. The Bushkids put on extra layers on their core and noticed how that warmed up their feet and hands. We explored how animals that live at Bushkids adapt to the cold weather. Heavy lifting, building forts, sliding and climbing kept us warm outside. Sewing and making mitten strings kept us cozy inside.
Why is it Important?
We are so proud of the Bushkids for practicing different strategies to stay warm today! We heard them taking care of each other “Cover your nose!” or “Can you check my cheeks for white spots?” This builds our sense of community. The Bushkids began to layer down when they entered the walltent without us reminding them so that they didn’t get hot or sweaty. They dried their hats/neck warmers/mitts and kept track of them. So much self care!!! We noticed the increase in temperature and marveled at how well our bodies adapt to the weather and temperatures when -30 actually begins to feel warm! We made comparisons with the animals and birds. We noticed our increased appetite – thank you Auntie Edna for cooking so much mac and moose – some kids had up to 4 bowls!
What Does This Mean For Next Time?
Have conversations with your child to explore if they were cold and what strategies helped them so that they remember this learning – ex. Did you put on an extra sweater? An extra jacket? Did you change your boots? Did you change your socks? We will continue to validate their hard work and efforts to take care of themselves and especially how they took care of each other – please do the same at home! We noticed a big interest in knots this week so we are excited to explore that next session in the context of building and upgrading their forts.