Fun in the Snow
When was the last time you played outside? I’m not talking about walking the dog or shoveling the driveway, but really playing in this great Canadian winter?
The grade 9 girls Phys. Ed. class is in the middle of doing just that; finding ways to appreciate the snow and have fun outside.
They started with building a fort. With very little direction, a few tools and a lot of heart, the girls designed and manufactured a fort big enough to hold the entire 23 student class!
They worked together to perfect the art of making recycling bin blocks (water, snow, pack, repeat, let sit, remove) and harvesting boulders from nearby snow banks (don’t get stuck!) to create walls higher than most of the students.
Through it all they encountered a variety of elements; amazing packing sleet, and awful crumbly powder; bright sunlight and dreary flurries; bitter cold and warm sunshine, but no matter what Old Man Winter threw their way, they met it with enthusiasm.
By Friday afternoon the fort was finished enough to have a play day in the snow complete with tobogganing, snowman building, snow gymnastics, tunnel forging, and partner-burying. And what better way to celebrate the completion of such a structure than with a potluck of sweets, warm tea, hot chocolate, and the live streaming of the torch lighting in Sochi!
Hopefully the past week has inspired some of the students to not only sit in front of their television sets cheering on the Olympic athletes, but to grab their toques and maple leaf mittens and go outside and enjoy the winter for themselves!
The outdoor unit will continue next week with cross country skiing, and will culminate with an outdoor Olympic challenge.
Lindsay Shantz, Phys. Ed. Teacher
