Can We See Gratitude? Can We Feel It?

Continuing with our learning of gratitude and giving back to the giving tree, we come back everyday to pay attention to the growth of the watermelon seeds. Seeds generally "wake up" and germinate when soil moisturize and temperature conditions are correct for them to grow (Miles and Brown 2007). 

We ponder upon a few questions below... 

• Do seeds need light to germinate?
• Does the amount of water affect seed germination?

We too put some water in our own watermelon plant. It seems that we are also wondering about the seed germination process itself. Therefore, we have been diligent in visiting and revisiting it.

We ask ourselves to think how many days we think watermelon seeds need to grow. Yoyo thinks that it will grow after 7 days. We find out that each one of us thinks of various answers.  Our observation informs us that it may still need more days for the seeds to sprout.

More ideas flow from our thoughtful minds in regard to exhibit our gratitude to the giving tree. Elie mentions a bird house which further inspires other friends to work with some open-ended materials. 

Each one of us comes up with ideas to construct and design. This kind of problem-solution thinking builds our engineering skills and provides us experience with how things work. 

First we brainstorm how our constructions look like. For example, the house should be large enough for birds to fit through. In this way we too express gratitude to the birds who share their beautiful voices with us and put smiles on our faces. 

Extending our inquiry to the outdoors, we are grateful for the opportunities to embrace sunshine. Exploring many ways to work with water under the sunshine is full with laughter and active movement. 

We use water and foam as a gross motor tool for whole body movements, balance, and gross motor coordination. Adding sensory play into a water tub is a fun way to explore our senses, challenge tactile and sensory systems.

As we are working with our inquiry of nature and environment, we manage to go to Unwin water park. We strongly believe that we need outdoor daily opportunities. Safely getting some healthy sunshine exposure also helps us enjoy vitamin D that makes our bodies stay healthy and strong.

We always love to share our own experiences as part of our weekly reflections. Luna mentions, “I love the water because it splashes me”.  Elie observes there are both water park and dry park which become options for her to choose. However, Yoyo's reflection emphasizes, “ I love the shade because it makes me feel nice and warm”. It is always wonderful to hear when we appreciate and be grateful of the nature.

On Friday, we walk through with everything we have learned and being grateful in the whole week. Luna expresses her thoughts about being thankful for playing every day and being with her friends every day. Moreover, Felix mentions about the shade that we get in this sunny weather. Yoyo shares his excitement and says, “ I am being grateful to make this tallest tower”.

Kindest,
​Children & Friends.