.png)
The older children have been deep in the throes of pretend play, and as soon as we finish our morning routine, they have been inventing all sorts of familiar scenes to recreate. Children play through familiar scenes to deepen their understanding of the world they see around them. They practice being part of positive social interactions and discover more about how they fit into the world through this kind of imaginitive, constructive play.
Today's play scene revolved around a restaurant. The children rotated between being diners, the chef, and servers. It was so much fun to see them make up their own "recipes" for soup, cakes, coffee, juice, tea, and other delights.
The children need very little outside help from me once they are playing pretend. I try not to interfere more than necessary, though I am always available to play a role if they want me to. This time around I got to be a diner, and through modeled good manners in a restaurant.
A little while later, the play switched to going on a bus ride. The chairs were lined up and the children took turns telling the driver where to go. One child loved bringing her baby to "daycare." Another child asked to go to the zoo. The driver had a good time making lots of zooming noises and practiced stopping for stop signs and red lights.
After cleaning up, the children and I headed outdoors to take care of the garden. We found lots of ripe cherry tomatoes which were so irresistable we had to eat some right then and there! We are also having lots of fun watching our last zucchini grow and grow... and grow! How big will it get?The little liked plucking at grass and flowers while he watched us water and care for the garden.
We visited our giant sunflowers. We can see the big flowerheads at the top of the stalk, but the petals are still shut tightly. "When will the beautiful yellow flowers come out?" we wondered. Maybe they are waiting for their little brothers just like in the story!
In the afternoon we spent some time reading Jack's Garden and looking at the August entries from A Year on Maple Hill Farm and A Child's Calendar.
See you tomorrow!