Rock + Friends = FUN!

Yesterday was a beautiful, winter day. White snow covered the ground and the sun even peeked out from behind the clouds for a bit in the morning.  

As the children played in the Pine Tree Forest I noticed a small group of them were off to the side jumping from a large rock, that was covered in snow and thick green moss. During the year and throughout the seasons this rock transforms from boat, to bug, to a castle but on this particular day it was a stage.  Watching the children do all kinds of "tricks" with their bodies as they made their way off the edge of the rock brought a huge smile to my face. They were so proud of their fancy moves that they were exhibiting that they began to challenge their friends to replicate them by saying "you try!".

This simple game of jumping from a rock not only challenged these children to have body awareness as they moved their bodies in certain ways when they attempted the "the double dare twist" but while they played they listened to their peers coach them saying "no, you do it like this..." (imagine what it would look like to see a chipmunk dressed in flannel trying to fly- that's what it looked like and that is why I couldn't help but smile).

Without any interruptions this game continued for more than 50 minutes as these friends shared ideas, created new names for their tricks and tired over and over agin to perfect their moves. If only we could find such joy in something so simple... Rock + Friends = FUN!