March 12th, 2020

Updates on "The Golden Strawberry" Game

Today, new groups of children brought additional ideas to the game we are inventing.  First, they added large golden knobs to be our "golden strawberries"!  Then it was time to add to the complexity of the game, including new obstacles and rules.

Palmer: (examining the dreidel) If you get this symbol, you get burned. (picks up the sand timer)  You get five seconds to play the game!
Grace: First, you eat the golden strawberry.  Next...  (she places a sticker down with the letter C printed several times) Travel to the C's.  There's lava this whole way.
Palmer:  You get five turns.  This is the lava, right Grace? 
(Together, they are arranging dominoes as the "lava")
Grace: They all have to be in the same spot...
Palmer:  We have to put them in order.
(More game pieces are being attached, including orange  and green collage materials)
​Palmer: (examining dice)  If you get 6, you go to the orange peach, and the tiger eats you up!

Next...

• Maren and Grace form a new rule that the glass beads are the "water" where the alligator lives, and if you land on those spaces, the alligator eats you up! 
• Soon, there is an idea to try using the large animals as game pieces.  The teacher points out they might be too big to fit on the bottlecaps.  In order to solve the problem, Maren and Palmer put tape on the feet of the cats.  Maren says it's "to make the feet smaller".  Palmer says, "It's going pretty well."  But when they test it out, the tape hasn't helped.  They agree to try something else.
• Maren has the idea to begin making "cards" because she has seen use of them in Candyland.  She colors a small patch on each index card, and assigns it to different game tiles. 
• Oliver, Palmer, Cannon, and Wolf are the next group. They briefly visit the Tucker closet, where they find corks and a fake candle.  Oliver puts the candle on the house for Baby Ena.  "We have to glue this on so the night doesn't scare her," he says.  He places her in the house.  "Baby Ena hides through here, and makes a BIG jump."  Oliver's next idea is to add more game tiles.  "These can be the hopscotch" he says as he tapes down a series of round silver pieces.

"We Love This Long, Long, Long Thing." -Olivia
In construction, we've still been using our chart to make sure that a larger variety of people are getting a turn in construction.  Olivia and Evelyn worked together creating a long bridge that went from their small village ALL the way across to the wall.
Olivia: "We can do it all the way to that house, right?  It's a bridge and a road.  People can walk on it.  Animals can walk on it."

DIY Rainbow Scratch Art! ...continued

With that friends, we'd like to wish you a very HAPPY spring break.  We'll miss you, and we hope you stay healthy and safe during the next couple weeks. 
For Parents: We had some ideas of ways to keep your children engaged if you're having a stay-cation.  (Feel free to try these out, but they're not homework, so don't feel obligated)

• Write and mail a letter to Alexandra in Germany
• Practice playing board games like Candyland that have cards, game pieces, and instructions.  We might need this knowledge to further our "Golden Strawberry" game.
• Make a fairy house for your yard outside
• ​Springtime is almost here... Perhaps do some indoor/outdoor gardening
• Have some photography fun by documenting the blooming of the trees
• Create a hopscotch with sidewalk chalk (perhaps with a new type of pattern? 1 square, 2 square, 2 squares??)
• DIY Rainbow Scratch Art can be done at home too... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQ6urjoVZkY