This week was the last Forest Playschool before February break. Some of the kids shared their excitement for travelling outside of Vermont while others were just happy to not be in school. With all the pre-vacation energy present, we made sure to give everyone plenty of opportunities to use it with their friends outside. 

Due to the sheer amount of snow, we decided for this week, it was better to start the mornings off playing in the front yard instead of looking for animal cut-outs that could easily get buried. The kids spent their time carving tunnels and sliding down the mounds of snow. They also had a fun time coloring pages February themed and reading a story all about the life of a beaver. 

Wednesday’s group decided to go to Forest Camp for their adventure for the day. There they played around the fort, climbed trees, and used the “ice kitchen” to create imaginary meals and desserts. We also built a fire and discussed how to properly build one and the science behind what they were seeing; we talked about heat rising, what smoke is made out of, and why snow extinguishes fire. We wrapped up the day by returning to the front yard to sled down the miniature hills the plows have formed along the sides. 

On Friday, Forest Playschool chose to hike up to Mossy Rock to play. Only a spec of moss was still visible; the rest of the boulder was covered in a couple feet of snow that had accumulated over the winter. This was no problem for the kids as they used the snow to form a long slide down the off the rock. Other kids took advantage of the large amounts of untouched snow to help Sarah build a snow structure below the rock. We returned to the front yard to continue playing in the snow, focusing on digging out tunnels like the meadow voles that live around here. 

It felt as if vacation had already started with all of the playing and time exploring outside. We hope the students from Forest Playschool enjoy their February break and we can’t wait to see them return and hear about all the fun things everybody did.