An essential part of our week together has been developing social skills through outdoor play. We have spent time in two groups hiking in the woods. This has supported the children in making connections in a smaller group. We have spent time sharing strengths, stories, and interests on the big playground.
The children have worked together to build roads and bridges in the sand as well as dig deep tunnels, looking for treasure. They have made birthday cakes and little houses using rocks, sand, and wood chips.
Our time playing together has been a favorite part of each day and has provided a context for building essential social and collaborative skills!
Another way we have been developing our social and emotional skills is thinking about our feelings. We use the zones of regulation to talk about the big feelings we experience throughout each day. Recognizing and talking about our feelings is important, because how we feel shapes how we interact and engage with our community. It's important we honor the feelings we all experience and recognize that there is no "good" or "bad" way to feel- all of our feelings are important and everyone has big feelings.
Through our initial conversations we are developing shared language and tools.
We read the story the story Jabari Jumps.
Jabari's story provided a rich opportunity for reflection and conversation about experiencing different feelings. Through Jabari's story we talked about the words worried and brave and introduced the zones of regulation. We later connected Jabari's feelings to another book character; little crab. We noticed how in both stories the character's feelings changed!
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