Our afternoon just got booked solid

A local wander with a group of toddlers has almost endless possibilities, some that can be created and others that just flow your way at the right time.

During a walk from Weston we had been finding out which leaves were soft and which were prickly, we had made a flag out of a stick and leaves, we had hunted for grasshoppers (heard but not seen) and we had been collecting plenty of sticks and seeds along the way. However as we passed a thicket of brambles and thorns there was a faint sound drifting towards us, the unmistakable sound of running water.

The energy during the walk had been very big with the children excited to be outdoors, roaming and exploring every which way but as we came to the stream (tributary, trickle) the energy became more focussed with children finding stones to drop in, sticks to build bridges with and even emptying the bucket that had been used for collecting blackberries so that water could be collected and poured instead. The sound changed as well as shouts became murmurs, conversations dropped away to wordless exchanges. We could have stayed all day.

One of my biggest influences as I was growing up was a cartoon strip called Calvin and Hobbes which centred around a six year old boy and his stuffed (or possible very real) tiger. The narratives are all based around the trials and tribulations that Calvin faces but one thing that he always engages with is being outdoors. The title for this post comes from this short strip which captures the way that even just a trickle of water can capture the attention and provide almost endless opportunities for learning, we just need to pause and go with the flow.