It was VERY WET out in the forest today! We played a rousing game of red light and green light while waiting to begin circle and added yellow light (sloooow movement) and blue light (for “fainting”) with a few of the students as leaders that called the game. Sarah led the children into the forest allowing herself to be “tracked” by the children’s quiet stealthy movements. The gulley near our favorite play site was FULL of water, and the children dove in with great enthusiasm, jumping, exploring and and building dams with branches and leaves. They also installed a “worker worm” to make dirt binding the dam together. The students coached each other to find good pathways in and out of the steep and slippery embankment. Everyone was quite wet through and through within the hour so after changing into dry clothes, we traveled back to the pavilion through some light rain for a snack and stories. The children who arrived at the pavillion first decided to cheer for those who were still running across the field! We enjoyed the sound of the rain on the roof of the pavillion and read “Sam and the Tigers”, which was a great parallel to shedding all the wet layers of clothing we had done minutes earlier! We also read“Pass it On”, which was great for spreading joy and laughter. Since the rain was continuing, we traveled back to the Visitor’s Center for some inside activities. In the Visitor’s Center, the children selected books and then echoing the earlier “Pass it On” story, Sarah led the kids in a session of Laughter Yoga to experiment with whether laughter is contagious. Indoor options in our classroom included an art station, a building station with elements from nature as well as wooden blocks, and a create-your-own-game station with A Penny For Your Thoughts, a social emotional card game. The children really thrived with having important jobs to do throughout the day, particularly cleaning up our indoor supplies, setting up for lunch, and matching boots to backpacks. The students were strong and resilient in the wet weather!