Country Kids

What do preschoolers at Sandwich Children’s Center do?

They walk out the back door of the Center and into the woods to look for animal tracks and scat ~ no “ews” from country kids! They also go into the woods on “listening walks” —  a trail to Red Hill Pond starts right across the street — and they suit up to play in the school yard no matter the weather. What are puddles for? Splashing in, of course!

They learn how to grind corn, appreciate the hardiness of Abenaki Red, and make cornbread. That’s our own Farmer Steve in the photo. He has also been known to bring in an apple press to make cider, a spile to tap into a maple tree so the kids can collect sap to make syrup, and various and sundry farm animals. (Yes, a chicken has been to school.)

They snowshoe to the Benz Community Center and perform a yoga song for the Senior Lunch group, amazing the seniors with their Gumby-like flexibility as they wiggle their way through Sun Salutations. Technically, the snow wasn’t deep enough this year to warrant snowshoes, so the preschoolers romped, slid, and scurried through the woods, gamboling like spring lambs. (If you read my lamb post, you know what I mean!)

They adopt a New Hampshire Osprey through the Squam Lakes Science Center, name it Flamingo Babirdy, and follow it’s winter migration (online) to South America. This photo is of two preschoolers practicing the osprey maneuver for avoiding detection when a predator is nearby. They call it “hunkering down,” but when I was in elementary school it was called an atomic bomb drill, and we hid under our desks. (Yes, I’m that old.)

They build leprechaun traps. This may sound inhumane, the poor wee fellows, but I have been informed by a preschooler that leprechauns are mischief makers and can also grant wishes, such as bringing a little girl a horse. If only I were a little girl… with a leprechaun trap.

They learn about musical instruments and sing, sing, sing. The preschoolers were introduced to three different types of flutes during this lesson. One, a “Gaita” from Spain, has a rough texture “like a snake.” You can only imagine the pandemonium when it was passed around! They also learned a Chinese song called Purple Bamboo Flute, in honor of the start of the Chinese New Year. If you would like it stuck in your head as it is in mine, I’m happy to share. (Just promise me you’ll keep Yellow Submarine far away from me. Drat! There it is!)

If you’d like to learn more about the Sandwich Children’s Center, click here. As of today on the home page, you’ll find a slide show of Steve tapping trees with the children and links to two of my stories — “Making Music” and “All About our 8th Annual Snowshoe Event.” Both stories were also printed the The Meredith News. Yes, I am a big-time journalist 🙂