AnjiPlayDate #7: A taste of the outdoors!

With bizarrely pleasant February weather, we just couldn't stay inside the whole time!  This week's play spilled out onto the back sidewalk, but first, we started inside.

The cardboard box saw a lot of activity this week, especially with blocks being loaded in and tossed back out.

 

 And people being loaded in and clambering out

This child was struggling to get out of the box until his sister set up a spool inside and outside the box.

 

Later, he tried two spools.  Notice how he adjusts to make it safer (food for thought: do you think he would have made the adjustment even if an adult hadn't said, "careful!")

I love this video of three (maybe four!) different ways to be inside something.

 

Check out the awesome, "I did it!" expression and gesture below as this child got cylindrical blocks onto all of the blobs of clay:

These pop-up tunnels have proven to be quite versatile!

This week's block play saw some studious building:

 

(keep an eye on the bottom left corner of the video below)

 

And then the block play moved outdoors:

In this photo, a younger child was trying to knock over his structure, but instead of shouting or pushing, he simply placed a firm hand on top of his tower to keep it steady (and to mark his territory) until the younger child moved on.

The blocks were also incorporated into a racing game.  First video is the set-up of the rules of the race, second video is the race itself.

and some lovely pieces of nature were scavenged.

There were some fantastic adult reflections this week and some great drawings by kiddos too.  I hope to add some of those in this space soon!

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