Brrrrr!!!! The weather has now turned icy-cold in Victoria (Australia)! Well, what we Aussies considered to be cold anyway! From now on, temperatures will sit fairly consistently between 0 (overnight) and 16 degrees celsius (during the day) for most of the Winter months (June, July and August). It is exceedingly rare that we get snow in the city of Melbourne itself, but there are days when we know that the bitterly cold winds are blowing right off the snow-capped mountain ranges not to far away.
So for our winter playscape, we chose to steal “A little bit of Winter” from Alaska.
Complete with Inuit representation, Igloo’s, seals, polar bears, reindeer’s and a team of huskies.
Many imaginative stories and pretend play sequences evolved as the children engaged with the playscape.
From seals escaping from the jaws of killer whales to reindeer hiding in the forest to protect themselves from roaming polar bears. The Igloo became a safe haven for many animals.
The animals communicated with each other to ensure their safety. “Quick, hide in here, the polar bear is coming!”
I make sure that I accompany each playscape with a selection of related fiction and non-fiction books in our “Reading Corner’ for the children to research and explore play ideas.
I really enjoy hunting out materials and props for these little playscapes, I think almost as much as the children enjoy playing with them! 🙂
