We began our day with an Opening Circle. As we had a new Explorer joining our group (welcome Shea!), we all explained what it was like to be a Fiddlehead. We talked a lot about the Mottos that guide our time in Explorers Club. See if your Fiddlehead can name a few! Our group also weighed in on our comfort of art. The girls acknowledged that the day wasn't about being "good" or "bad" at art, but about exploring our creativity! It was encouraging to watch the Fiddleheads stick to this all day, never belittling their or anothers' work, and always finding ways to support others in their journeys.
Speaking of journeys, we then headed out on ours! It was fish feeding time at the hatchery at Whatcom Falls Park, and the generous Parks workers allowed for us to spend some time feeding the rainbow trout. How fun to watch the fish swim and squirm at feeding time, knowing exactly where to go for their morsels of breakfast!
From there, we found an incredibly diverse and magical set of rocks that the Fiddleheads were immediately ready to climb. We completed an S.T.O.P Risk Assessment to ensure that we would be safe, and proceeded to spend a signficant amount of time scampering up and sliding down this mini rock face. The Fiddleheads lent helping hands, pushes, boots, and pulls to get each girl up the rock, which provided them with a sense of accomplishment. Sometimes on cold days, moving your body is just what you need, and it was clear that helped keep our bodies and hearts warm and happy!
We celebrated our climbing success with a snack, and shared another decision-making circle about what to do and where to go next! As the Fiddleheads will likely let you know, decision-making in a group of 14 is HARD! We're learning how to hear everyone's voice, how to Collaborate and Compromise, and how to do this as efficiently as possible so we can get going and move! Meeting everyone's needs is always a challenge, but I was proud to see Fiddleheads asking regularly if people were in agreement, if there were any dissenting thoughts, and taking this feedback gracefully. I am excited to see how the problem solving skills of these girls develops in the months and years to come!
From this decision circle, we moved to do some art and play some games. We "caterpillar walked" our way into a nice thicket of trees and set up a little basecamp where we would stay for the rest of the day. We started our time in the thicket with an art activity called "Zoom, Zoom, Zoom!", where we focused on perspective drawing. The girls chose to draw a larger scape and drew all that they could, then they zoomed in on maybe on tree in the scene, then zoomed in again and drew a close up detail of the bark and lichen on that same tree. It was a great exercise in understanding the scope of our observation skills in addition to practice in drawing in a variety of ways. Some chose to spend this quiet time drawing their own sketches, which also provided many girls with the space to just CREATE!
We finished our day with a few rousing games that got us moving and kept us warm. Some girls chose to keep sketching, and others took to using natural materials and built fairy and bug homes on the forest floor. We shared a Peaceful Place surrounded by the faint whoooossshhhh of Whatcom Creek, and closed our day with a Circle of Thanks. We felt gratitude for the practice of art, for water, for each other, and for the park that we called home for the day! Another fantastic adventure with the Fiddleheads!
Our Words of the Day? : "Art, friends, and resources at Whatcom Falls Park!"
To view a slideshow of our day, click here!
