Hugs, sprouts and marshmallows!

A book about raccoon cubs.

At TOP the kids are so loving to each other. It warms my heart to watch them care about each other - (On Tuesday after a fall Max came over to Isaac and wiped away his tears with his hand and asked if Isaac if he was ok.) There are kids holding hands and as you can see in this photo-group-hugging!

We began another most excellent day with stilts and brooms and balls. Some kids were making letters with the water on their brooms. Others were "painting" the bricks-watching them get dark red when they were wet. There was a game of broom ball going on and a hide-and-seek with a ball in the bushes also. What creativity! During circle time we talked about signs of spring; daffodils, crocuses and tulips were mentioned. This brought on a new song for the group to learn.

On our hike we enjoyed looking through the rocks under the tire swings for beads and what to our surprise...we also found seeds sprouting! After careful observation we found that the seeds were from helicopter seeds from the Big Leaf Maple Tree nearby. Surely a sign that spring is on its way!

Big Leaf Maple sprouted seedling

Big Leaf Maple Helicopter seed implanted in the soil.

As we stayed and played in the meadow, some kids decided to play at the big stump. If you look closely you can see there was a dragon hiding in his lair (a nice dragon) and kids "roasting marshmallows." Teacher Jen was helping keep everyone balanced and putting "marshmallows" on their sticks.  Other TOP kids wanted to explore the dried grass. It was squishy and soft enough to lay down in.

All in all it was an awesome day at TOP! The sun was shining and all was fine with the world.

Please don't forget to sign up for next session before March 6th. There is a waiting list so you could lose your space. Just call Redmond Parks and Rec or go in person to sign up at the Redmond School house. The last day of this session is March 8th. Next session is from March 12-May 31st.

Noah and Nina are great friends.