It was a sunny and snowy week for Forest Playschool. All that remains of the snow fort is a stump of ice. We continued to play outside in the snow and do crafts inside to take a break from the cold. 

This week’s animal-to-find was the porcupine. There is a common misconception that porcupines “shoot” their quills out. They can’t actually launch them like projectiles, instead they are easily dislodged from the porcupine’s skin and stay attached to the attacker due to their barbs. Real porcupines are black, white and gray, but our porcupine cut-outs were everything from aqua blue to rainbow since students from another Playschool group colored them in years back. 

Wednesday’s class took advantage of the warmer weather and played outside in the front yard. Many of them teamed up to make a “snow kitchen” where they also used shovels and their hands to form “snow pies” and other treats. Almost everyone participated in sliding down the top of what was once the snow shelter. Inside, the kids enjoyed coloring in seasonal pages and listening to stories about winter and barn owls. 

Friday’s group got to play outside while it was snowing. About half of the class was determined to destroy the rest of the snow shelter and spent about 50 minutes total on it. They tried kicking it, using shovels, and even running into it. Eventually they reduced it to an icy chunk the size of a large medicine ball before flipping it over and rolling it around. We later ventured up to Forest Camp to play in the area and use the snow kitchen. Like Wednesday’s class, Friday’s group also enjoyed coloring, eating, and listening to stories inside. 

Many people complain about the winter, but the kids of Forest Playschool seem to enjoy the cold as much as those people enjoy the summers.