Planting Toddlers in Mud

April showers bring May flowers... here we are in the blustery, chilly beginnings of Spring. It is a time of much anticipation as the first leaves and flowers appear, but also often much frustration for parents as seemingly endless mud, rain and puddles interfere with outside play.

Kids plaing in the school garden in the rain “There is no bad weather, only bad clothing” is a mantra that we might need to consciously remember more often this time of the year. Good rainboots, waterproof “rain pants”, warm fleeces and rubberized jackets are a must for small children who are just as likely to fall flat onto their nose into a puddle as they are to slip and sit down in the biggest pile of mud they can find. However, for them, nature now is a magical trove of experiences and opportunities. Splashing in puddles, poking mud with sticks (and there is so many great sticks lying around after a windy day), discovering tiny plants, finding bugs and worms, building with sticky, wet sand – all of these are endlessly appealing (and developmentally beneficial!) activities that just offer themselves right now.

So whilst holing up in a blanket fort with tea and story books has its plays, please don’t forget to spend some squishy, splashy, muddy times outside this Spring!

Michaela Tučková – toddler teacher in IMSP

Want to learn more? Read our next article:

READING FROM A YOUNG AGE MATTERS

Comments

Další články

Dealing with Emotions Through Art

“Social and emotional learning(SEL) is the process through which children and adults understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions.”

IMSP’s LIDOVÉ NOVINY

Introducing IMSP’s LIDOVÉ NOVINY, a Czech-language newspaper written, edited, and assembled by our Upper Elementary students. This project was inspired by renowned Czech writer Karel Čapek. Čapek, best known for inventing the word „robot“, was beloved for his versatile and multi-genre pieces. Bouncing between modern fairytales, short stories, travel-logs, and biographical work, Čapek also had a particular affinity for the feuilleton, a short newspaper essay designed, not only to inform the reader, but to amuse them as well.

Learning Mathematics in our Primary Classrooms

Maria Montessori often stated that not only does every human being have an innate drive to understand the environment around them, we all also naturally have what she called a “Mathematical Mind”. In the Montessori classroom, mathematical learning begins through indirect preparation long before a child is ever introduced to any Math materials.

Holiday Baking With Your Toddler

It's beginning to look a lot like winter - with first frosts and early dark, but also bright twinkling lights and seasonal decorations wherever you look. Is it any wonder that we populate the long, cold nights of December with candle light, evergreens and the smells of a myriad festive treats? So many delicious flavours belong firmly at the close of the year - hot chocolate and sweet tea, spiced pies, delicate cookies and savoury roasts, all keeping us cozy and warm as well as full.

Magic mat

There are a few things typical to Montessori classrooms worldwide that might give the casual observer a pause. Picture it: you walk into a beautiful Casa environment, full of children working, many of them on mats rolled out on the floor. The students moving through the room know to step between mats, never on them. Of course, in the beginning of the school year it took many presentations, repetitions and reminders to instill this routine in the students.