Nature-ing

The children and I spent a week exploring music in and with the natural world.  (I'll include a link below to a short musical video of our time together).  After experimenting with sound making, we carried our instruments to our arboreal friends.  First, we needed to meet our audience: Ash, Bradford Pear, Red Bud, Silver Maple, Peach, Apple and Pear.  (Yep we have all those trees out our backdoor!). Then we played our noisy hearts out! 

We then gathered a few peaches to share and delighted in the warm, juicy sweetness ruining off our chins.   When finished we stop by the compost to add to our decaying fruit and vegetables pile and meet all the wonderful worms and insects converting our trash back into soil

We finished in our prolific garden, picking some collard greens, basil and tomatoes for food prep in the studio!  

Stay tuned to see what we make with our bounty!

Click here for a peek at our music in the making.

The Senses of a Scientist

The XP children and I began our year of inquiry by fine-tuning our sensory, observation skills!  And where better to begin than sunflowers!

Smelling the flower and stems...

Tasting with sunbutter....We decided it tastes like the flower smells... its smooth, salty, a little sweet, sticky and just plain gooood!!!

We smelled,

It feels sticky in some areas, smooth in others but everyone agreed that it sounds crunchy...

And then we spent a long while looking at the flower from a variety of angles....

R

We then recorded our data on paper with graphite and colored pencils!  

More to Come!!!

Enchanting Explorations

The children began visits to the studio this week and I could not be more delighted! In keeping with our research question, the studio is connecting children with the natural world through a variety of materials. 

This magnificent treehouse has been a perennial favorite for many years.

The Latin origin of the word "enchant" meant "to sing upon." To be enchanted by the natural world, literally, meant to be sung too.  Cultures around the world have historically sung to forests and other special landscapes.This year we will be doing the same! Here you can see the children playing with instruments set up in the studio. Next week we will be exploring music in the outdoor environment as well. Our early explorations emphasize the importance of listening. These tools allow us to sound a note and then follow it as long as we can with our ear. This will foster our listening in the weeks and months ahead. Listening to wind and snowfall and birdsong and one another. 

Stay Curious and Filled with Wonder! 

Winter Solstice

The sun is making its low progress across the sky and the wild world has drawn its energy inward to prepare for a long winter sleep.  Nature reminds us that the shortest day is nearly upon us.  To celebrate, the children prepared a special gift to share, filled with everything you’ll need for some simple solstice merriment.  There is birdseed for the birds and candles to warm the longest night of the year.  Please join us in welcoming Winter with a blessing and a song.

A Song for Winter Birds

The North Wind doth blow

And we shall have snow

And what will the robin do then, poor thing

He’ll sit in the barn

And keep himself warm

And hide his head under his wing, poor thing

The North Wind doth blow

And we shall have snow

And what will the swallow do then, poor thing

Oh did you not know

He’s gone long ago

To a country far warmer than ours.

Wassail Recipe

½ gallon apple cider

46 oz can pineapple juice

46 oz cranberry juice blend

1 orange thinly sliced to look like suns

5 cinnamon sticks

1-2 star anise

A handful of whole, fresh cranberries

Pour apple cider, pineapple juice and cranberry juice into a stockpot.  Place orange slices, cranberries, cinnamon sticks and anise into apple cider mixture.  Bring cider to a boil: reduce heat and simmer until flavors have blended, 15-20 minutes.  Remove orange slices, cranberries and spices before serving. 

Candle Verse

A candle’s but a simple thing,

It starts with just a bit of string,

But dipped or rolled with patient hand,

It gathers wax upon the strand.

Until complete and snowy white,

It gives at last a lovely light.

Life seems so like that bit of string,

Each deed we do a simple thing.

Yet day by day on life’s strand,

We work with patient heart and hand.

It gathers joy, makes dark days bright,

And gives at last a lovely light.

Cloud Study

 Michelle led a wonderful assembly on clouds.

 As a demonstration she used water, shaving cream and food coloring to demonstrate how a cloud fills with moisture, resulting in rain.

 Next, she did an awesome experiment using hot water, a match and ice to create a cloud in a jar!

 The children were enthralled as were all the teachers!

The children communicated their observations in the studio and classroom with creative materials.

And the silver lining of every rainy day is the possibility of a rainbow!

The Love Tree

Our tree is taking shape, thanks to all the children who have added papier mache' to its emerging bark.  We had to really rub the gluey paper onto the trunk in order to smooth it down and get it to adhere properly.  As we did a few children said, "We love you tree!" as they lovingly rubbed the bark.  This action took off and soon most of the children could be heard loving the tree into life.

When we were done I asked, "What should we call our tree?" and they suggested "Love Tree."  So that is what it has become, our very own love tree. Several of your children have become young tree huggers in their own right.

Today the teachers and I talked about the tree study and where we might go from here.  They had so many fabulous ideas, most of which I would never have considered on my own.  Ahhh the power of collaboration! I can hardly wait to share these inspirations with you and the children in the months ahead.
If you are a parent at our school come on by to see our resident tree and if you'd like to share your love of trees with the world, there will be lots of opportunities ahead!  PLEASE contact me and we will make something happen.
Enjoy your weekend and say hello to your neighborhood trees!

For the LOVE of Trees

On Thursday of last week, I gave a presentation to the whole school entitled, For the Love of Trees.  I introduced the children to some of my very best friends in Denver... the TREES.  I shared the wonderful discovery that trees communicate!! But not like we do.  They communicate via chemicals and fungi networks in and around their root systems. WHOA! (If you want to learn more about the Wood Wide Web, you can watch this video here  or this informative ted talk. For a deeper dive pick up Perter Wohlleben's wonderful book The Hidden Life of Trees. )

The children were surprised.  Trees can talk?  Yep.  And you can talk to them.  Really?  Well I do!  I shared how I learned to talk to plants and trees as a little girl by listening with my heart.  Yep.  Sound hokey?  To adults maybe it does, but children often know what I'm talking about.  The heart feels love.  Love is a kind of chemical in the body and our heart is a big ole magnet. 

As a child of hippies, I was taught to "listen" to trees with my heart and senses.  I learned to discern if a plant needed water or nutrients by sight and touch and yes... feeling.  I learned to ask before picking a leaf and then listening with my heart to hear the reply.  If my heart grew warm with love I took that as a yes and if not, I didn't pick the leaf or fruit or flower.  

Many of the children were eager to give it a try.

After our presentation the children were invited into the studio to share their wonderings and ideas about trees.

I also introduced a large "tree" made of paper, cardboard and tape.  We will be adding papier mache' to it's surface in the weeks ahead.  In the Spring our little tree will be on display in the corner window of the Artisan Center along with your children's thoughts and creativity.  Stay tuned to watch this project unfold in the year ahead AND if you are inspired to learn or share more feel free to contact me!  I love to collaborate!

I hope you have  a beautiful and tree-filled weekend.  And if you are walking with your child, be sure to listen for a while to the song of the trees in your neck of the woods!

BONUS:Here is a video clip to my dear friend, a ponderosa pine along Apex hiking trail in Golden, CO.