If I hold it up high I can see the wind better
They took the scarves out with them and stood holding them open, waiting for wind.
When it came, the scarves went with it.
“The wind is blowing, so my scarf is flying away.”
“I think it's coming from over there.”
One of them turned to face the way it was coming from.
“If I stand like this the scarf goes all long.”
Another lifted a scarf as high as it would go.
“If I hold it up high I can see the wind better.”
After that they watched for it — the slow swing, then the fast one, depending on what the wind was doing.
3–5communicationcause and effect
What if we wear the scarves?
They had drawn a winter world across a big sheet of paper, taped clear film over the top of it, and called it a skating rink. Socks were how you skated on it. You pushed along in them.
Except for the socks with grips on the bottom.
“Mine won't slide.”
So they worked on it, and one of them had already noticed something.
“I stepped on a scarf that one time and it was kind of slippery. What if we wear the scarves?”
An adult tied the scarves onto their feet like shoes.
“Whoa, it really does slide!”
The scarves went outside with them later, into real winter.
“My scarf is going to fly all the way over there.”
“My scarf already got cold.”
3–5communicationusing their handscause and effect
I'll pull you
A scarf was spread out wide on the floor, and they got onto it, and then started giving each other rides.
“I'll pull you!”
Whoever was riding sat holding both edges of the scarf.
“It's like a sled!”
“This is fun!”
Whoever was pulling leaned into it and worked out how fast to go. They swapped, and swapped again, and then started joining scarves together to make the sled longer and bigger.
“Go slow.”
“Hold on here.”
3–5noticing other childrencommunication
The wind caught it
They had waved colored scarves around indoors to show what wind does. Then they carried them to the park to meet the real thing.
Up went the scarves.
“The wind is pushing my scarf!”
“It's going so fast!”
Then the fallen leaves started going up too, laid on the scarves and thrown.
“Whoa, it's flying!”
“The wind caught it!”
Which way the leaves went, and how far, kept changing with the wind.
3–5noticing other childrencommunicationcause and effect
Wind! Here comes the wind
An adult waved a scarf around indoors.
“Here comes the wind.”
One of them threw a scarf up overhead.
“It's flying away!”
Then the adult fanned it, gently, and the scarf swung slowly on the way down. The child waved both hands to make more of it.
“Wind! It's blowing!”
After that the scarves went up and came down and got caught, over and over.
“Whoo! It's the wind!”
3–5communicationcause and effect
Now I'm the baby
One of them took a baby doll and a scarf out of the basket, laid the baby down on the floor, and covered it with the scarf.
Another came over holding a doll too.
“Can I play too?”
“Then put your baby down here, next to mine.”
So the second baby was laid down beside the first.
Then the first one looked at the two of them.
“I'm going to lie down next to them too.”
And down beside the babies, with the scarf pulled over.
“Now I'm the baby.”
“I want to be a baby too!”
And there were two more of them under the scarf.
3–5noticing other childrencommunicationpretend play
The waves are coming, so be careful
Blue scarves came out, and shakers, and little sea animals.
“The waves are rolling.”
“Here comes a big wave.”
Whoever said that moved the scarf hard. The shakers went at the same time.
“It makes a shhh sound.”
Someone set a fish down on top of a scarf.
“The fish is swimming.”
By then they were at the beach.
“I'm going to look for shells.”
“There's a fish here.”
Two of them swam. One kept an eye on the water.
“The waves are coming, so be careful.”
3–5communicationsoundpretend play
I'm dancing with the scarf because I feel so good
They asked for the carols, and when the music came on, one of them took a friend by the hand.
“Let's dance.”
The two of them held on and swayed.
Someone else picked up a scarf and waved it up and down with the music, then spun it around.
“I'm dancing with the scarf because I feel so good.”
The one beside picked up a scarf too.
“I feel good too. Let's do it together.”
They moved their feet along with it.
“This song is fast.”
And when the slow part came back, they slowed down with it.
“This one is quiet.”
3–5noticing other childrencommunicationsound
This one is snow, this one is fire
The music kept changing, and the scarf changed with it. Fast and bright, and the scarf went wide and they ran with it. Slow, and the scarf went up into the air and came down again.
Then the colors started meaning something.
“This one is snow.”
“This one is fire.”
One of them took a scarf in each hand.
“I can make it even bigger!”
And when the music stopped, the scarves went onto their heads, or down on the floor in a circle, and everything waited there.
3–5communicationusing their handssound
Blow slow, blow hard
The scarf went up, and then over a face, and then came the blowing.
“Whoo.”
“Your scarf met the wind, and now it's floating.”
“Whoo.”
“You did scarves in the discovery room yesterday too. Are you doing it again because you remembered?”
An adult blew as well, and they watched what the scarf did.
“What happens when you blow slow, and when you blow hard?”
Later they sent the scarves up and caught whichever color was called out. When one landed on a face, it stayed there a second.
“Peekaboo!”
Then the scarf came off, and there was the laugh.
3–5peekaboocommunicationcause and effect
I'll throw it, you catch it
An adult waved a scarf.
“What do you think the scarf does when the wind blows?”
Outside, they let them go and found out.
“My scarf is dancing!”
“It's going up to the sky!”
Then someone climbed to the top of the tall slide with one, and someone waited underneath.
“I'll throw it!”
“You catch it!”
The scarf came down the long way, and when that got too far apart, they moved in and threw them to each other close up.
3–5noticing other childrencommunication
This one is a tulip
They had been looking at pictures of flowers, at the colors and the shapes of them, and then the scarves became the flowers.
One gathered a scarf lengthwise and lifted it.
“This one is a tulip.”
More scarves went down on the floor, one overlapping the next, until there was a flower bed.
Then an adult made some wind, and the flower bed moved.
“It's moving because the wind is blowing.”
“What do you think happens if the wind gets stronger?”
So the scarves went higher, and the shaking went faster, to see.
3–5communicationusing their handspretend play