Wild Rumpus Report: Week 5

Week 5 and things are starting to run a little more smoothly and the kids who have attended for multiple weeks are really digging deeper into play even though nothing radically new was added this week.  Let's see what happened:

One "new" thing that was added was some really large appliance boxes.  They made a great house and adding a second made an excellent addition to the house.

 They were also fun to try to roll in!



more AnjiPlay after the jump!



The sheets and clamps saw a little more action this week:

 (I love how hard this builder is working to use this clamp!)

The sheets and ropes were also quite heavily used on the playground.  Although I didn't get a photo of it, I heard that at least one pulley rope with a bucket was rigged up over here today!

 

Check out this great risky play climbing on the spinning element!

 The ropes also made it into the woods.  Here you can see some rope used like "caution tape" because the children found some rusty barbed wire embedded in this fallen tree (a bit more risky than I'd prefer to expose kids too, oops!) -- love their solution!  In the photo below, you can also see a boy using a stick as though it were a mini saw or serrated knife to try to cut the rope.

 Our fort builders were back again and it's getting larger and more elaborate each time they build it!

 The super long length of tulle this week was used for dressing up like a bride.....

 And for a father-son game of limbo....

 

 And it was also made into a "web" (which was later identified as a "booby trap" by other players who discovered it after the original creators had left)

Here's her video description of building these structures today:



The chalk saw a lot more action this week too.  Here's a robot that looks great both right-side up and upside down!

 This young artist discovered the amazing effect that water has on chalk all on his own!

 This young artist was really enjoying the feel of paint on her hand:

 And this young artist let me know that his mom had specifically dressed him in clothes that were really paint-y so that he could get them messy.  Great job, mom!  :)

 I love the circles they drew around themselves.

 And I love that this tube is painted both inside AND out

 Someone got buried in swim rings:

 And I've been waiting and waiting for someone to try rolling on one of these tubes and this week it happened!

 Check out this amazing mushroom growing from these tree roots!

Today's Play Stories:  

Many featured written words--

I am especially intrigued by this series of fort illustrations (shown from earliest iteration to today's drawing):

 

Here is a video by one of the fort's creators reflecting on his play today:

And this drawing (with a fine point Sharpie) by a one year old shows a lot of concentration (and bravery on the part of the mom!)

Here are a few more videos for your enjoyment:

 

(pssst.... the black circles in this drawing are the "dot-dot-dot" that you write before making a list (in other words, an ellipsis)






LOVE this drawing of the swim tubes!



I decided to try a few new questions on the "Observation" worksheet for parents and I was delighted with many of the responses.  Here are some of my favorite observations from this week:

What was your child's mood while playing today? (Feel free to list all moods that you observed)
--"Frustrated, confused, engaged, confident, angry excited"
--"Frustrated and tentative at first, especially in the open area -- once in the woods they felt more comfortable and creative - more free"
--"Proud of getting paint independently and delighted with mixing colors and pumping from the container."

In what ways do you notice your child being inventive and/or solving problems?
--"with painting... wondered if more layers of paint = darker color and it proved to be true"
--"couldn't reach the tree branch they wanted to attach the corner of sheet so used velcro strips to make longer."
--"had to figure out how to play while trying to let paint dry on hands."

What was the riskiest thing your child tried today?  How did you react?
--"covered her arms in paint.  I wanted to stop her, so she wouldn't get dirty, but I didn't."
--"found barbed wire and roped it off.  My reaction = calm."
--"bouncing/holding onto orange rope.  I was nervous but I just made sure he didn't bump his head on the ground."
--"wandered into the wooded area and threw big rocks in the water.  I wasn't happy when he got wet!"

What did you learn about your child through their Play Story today?  Did their drawing or writing match what you observed during play or did it surprise you?
--"the play story was not so exciting for them.  Much more engaged in the actual play."
--"I didn't see everything they had played with so found out what they had done in their play stories."
--"my son is only 2 years old, so his drawing rarely match what I observe!"

And finally one last, very enthusiastic and energetic clip of Rumpusing:

Please note: "Anji Play,” refers to a specific philosophy and comprehensive approach to early education developed by Ms. Cheng Xueqin in Anji County, China. I use the term "Anji Play" to describe my programming and throughout this blog with the explicit permission of Ms. Cheng because our programming has been developed as part of a close collaborative relationship with her and her team of Anji Play educators. If you are interested in learning more about how you can bring Anji Play to your community, please visit www.anjiplay.com