Tuesday 1 February 2011

More Pairings

The blackbird posed for us. The crocus popped itself out of the ground for us. I would never have seen it from far away, so luckily we were getting close to the ground this morning, digging in the mud.
My tulips in their Victorian tulip jug. I have been using this jug as a paint water pot, as it makes me happy to look at it. The blue is just lovely. Putting tulips in a jug in the middle of the table reminds me of playing in my Wendy house when I was a child. Vases of flowers always give me that feeling of playing at being grown up, just because I used to put them in that house.

This last pairing is my favourite, as we had a lot of fun in the mud this morning, and I got some great observations. I am constantly following the children around with my post-it notes and camera, writing down what they say and do. Never again will they be so documented! (Unless they become famous of course which I could see lots of them doing-they are a very entertaining bunch!) We have a concrete/rubber safety matting part of the playground and a garden part-grass and railway sleeper raised beds. The grass part often stays shut in the winter as it gets really muddy and slippery. I don't necessarily think this should be the case as I think it deprives the children of lots of learning opportunities. So when it is my week outside I like to have it open if possible. This morning was not wet and lots of them wanted to dig so we did. The floor in the nursery was covered, despite me getting everyone to wipe their feet. We need a boot scraper! I think it was worth it though as they were really talking loads about what they were finding and were very excited. Diebe found a root that he called a spider. He also found real treasure-a marble buried a couple of inches under the soil. Aisha found a stone. She excitedly told me this. I said something like "Ooh, that's like treasure isn't it?" "No, I told you it was a stone!" She said. 'Shut up Sarah' I thought! Ellis and Abishek went to get the big digger trucks and filled them with soil. When we found the crocus I said "Ooh, don't kill it I want to take a photo." "I don't want to kill it!" Diebe exclaimed indignantly. 'Shut up Sarah' again I thought! (I have been a bit scarred by past experiences of children pulling the heads off of tulips!)

3 comments:

Leenie said...

Good thing you were down at the lower level with the children so you didn't miss the flower. I think they see a lot of beauty down there that we miss with all our grown-up size. Good for you letting them enjoy the dirt. Kids and dirt belong together.

Anonymous said...

I've said it before - can I come and join in the fun with the kids please. How wonderful that they get to play in the mud!

→lisa said...

I'd like to find an old marble to treasure sometime.

You're so lucky, getting a crocus already! We're still buried under loads of snow here, with no end to winter in sight.

Do you have good luck with tulips? Mine always droop over after a day or two. I've heard that putting a penny in the vase helps, but I don't know if that's just an old wives' tale.