Hello AFK families! We want to thank you all so very much for your kindness and generosity not only this week, but over the entire semester! We wish you all a wonderful break filled with family time, rest, and lots of play! We are truly so grateful to be with your amazing children as their guides at AFK, and we can’t wait to return to the winter forest in January!

We had a full and exciting last week of the semester! Tuesday, we all enjoyed the beautiful sunny weather and the children were happy to reconnect with friends after the weekend. Eva (our newest Educator!) joined us for the day, and she brings such playful energy to the group! Thank you to Sarah, Naia’s mom for being our Lunch Helper! We brought out the magnifying glasses in the forest, and a few friends loved moving layers of leaves on the forest floor and taking time to view what was underneath. The children have been so in tune with the changing seasons, and the subtle differences in the environment as the forest prepares for winter. At circle time in the mornings we continue to talk about directions and the weather, and even on cloudy days, point to the East where the sun is rising.        

On Wednesday, we visited a beloved play site we call The Bridge Site. The children are always happy to spend the day here, and were even more excited to visit after moving across the lake! Wednesday afternoon, we visited the garden and harvested some of the broccoli the children planted earlier in the fall. They were amazed to see how much their plants had grown (maybe the broccoli felt the same way about them!), and were so proud to harvest it and place it in baskets. Together we talked about how some of the broccoli was ready for harvest, and some needed more time to grow. Everyone seems eager to visit the garden again next month and is happy to have more veggies to harvest this season! Nat found an incredible partial Snapping Turtle shell, which everyone really enjoyed observing. Ken, Maisie’s dad, joined us as our Forest Helper!
On Thursday, we held a Friendship Feast for lunch! This was such a fun departure from our grain, green, veggie, bean lunch staple. The children chose from a buffet of their friends favorite foods. Some of the offerings included cheese sandwiches, strawberries, veggie straws, popsicles, barbecue potato chips, popcorn, ramen, homemade cookies, cheese pizza, cherries with whipped cream, and broccoli from the garden for good measure. The children loved taking turns sharing stories about the food they brought. Special thanks to Bernice, Henry's grandma, and Anastasiya, Silvia’s mom for the extra help with the feast, and to all of you for participating in this fun celebration!

Friday, the children enjoyed a full morning of play in the forest. Playing in the shelters we’ve built over the last two weeks continued to be a favorite activity. Lots of our friends enjoyed looking at seasonal books together and being read to, and of course there was lots of room for big, energetic play and climbing! Thank you to Sheena, Amora’s mom for being with us as a Forest Helper!  

Sarah, Kylie, and Ashley are looking forward to meeting over the break to do some exciting planning for next semester. We have some wonderful professional development trainings, invitations, and dreams in the works and can’t wait to see you all soon!