“In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt.”
-Margaret Atwood
It is that time of the year when the signs of spring are becoming visible. What a great opportunity to have the children in your program become spring detectives. Take the children outside to investigate the signs that spring is upon us. Help the children engage their senses by seeing spring bulbs break through the ground. Quietly have the children listen for the songs of the birds in the trees. Help the children feel the buds that are starting to grow on the trees.
You can take the detective work one step further by assisting children in documenting their findings through photos, journals, and drawings. Then revisit the areas often to see what new changes have taken place. What happened to the buds on the trees? What type of flowers bloomed from the spring bulbs? For many young children this may be the first memories of spring, so it may all seem new to them. Enjoy the emergence of spring together as a class.
