New things!

Maybe one of the best things I've discovered about the Spirit Play classroom thus far (and granted, it has been in use a grand total of one Sunday!) is how excited I and the teachers are about what is new and different each week.

I think the best environments and education setting for children mix known, familiar, and beloved ritual and structure with a frequently changing collection of interesting things to touch, play with, see, do, and talk about. In Montessori, the familiar setting and structure is called the "prepared classroom." In homeschooling, the frequently changing objects of curiosity and conversation starters are introduced through "strewing," leaving them in places children are likely to find them on their own and pick them up (or sometimes not--no attachment there to a specific outcome). Spirit Play mixes these techniques, and it is So Very Much Fun to be on the lookout for ways to enrich the experience of Sunday School for the children.

This week, I took my own two kids to the Mulberry River for a swim, and whilst poking around on the shore, I found these treasures to add to the observation tray: