Week of 1/20
While our outdoor programming was cut short by icy cold temperatures and an abbreviated school week, we took every opportunity to get outdoors when it was safe. We could even resume our Prospect Park trips by the end of the week. The snow from last weekend was still present in Prospect Park in delightful amounts. The last few winters have been lacking in snow, we are grateful to have this opportunity to explore and experience snow together with your little ones.
Arriving to the park, classes were in awe of the landscape transformed by the snow. We observed how the snow made the park different changing how it looked and sounded!
“Some people call snow a blanket! Look it’s like a big white blanket is covering all the grass and dirt” - Sophie, Flying Squirrels
“I like the crunching sound the snow makes. The park is so crunchy today!” - Imaan, Marigolds
The snow inspired kiddos to activate and share their background knowledge about snow and ice as we explored and learned more through experiencing these elements together:
“Sometimes snow is fluffy and soft, and that’s when you can make stuff like a snowman or snow angel. But this snow is hard like ice” - ZZ, Spiders
“Snow is cold, I need my gloves!” Teo, Ladybugs
“Did you know that snow is just made of water? like the rain!” - Miles, Flying Squirrels
As we played in the snow, we started noticing how our bodies and actions could affect the snow.
“The snow is cracking when I hit it with my hammer!” - Roman, Marigolds
“You can make a snow angel. Just lay down and go like this." - Rian, Spiders
This new texture to the environment allowed for us to explore a unique form of movement in the park, sliding! Spiders and Squirrels enjoyed exploring different ways to move down a hill, trying out sliding on our bottoms, sliding on a teachers lap, and sliding on our knees. The Spiders got creative and found that holding onto one end of stick, while a teacher pulled the other was an effective way to get down a hill without a sled. We highly recommend you give it a try!
Photo courtesy of Brooklyn Botanic Garden
We hope you all are able to enjoy some time in the snow and outdoors this weekend. If you’re looking for an interesting (and stinky!) weekend activity, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden’s Corpse Flower has started to bloom in their conservatory. This unique flower, native to Sumatra, blooms infrequently, and when it does its pungent aroma is truly remarkable. In nature, the putrid, rotting meat smell attracts pollinators like flies that enjoy the scent. In cultivation (only 9 or so botanic gardens have one in their collections), the scent and impressively large bloom can attract many visitors eager to catch this rare phenomenon. If you go, we’d love to hear about your experience!
With Gratitude,
Sara & Jules