The play diary is an observation of what kind of play takes place during a session. As much as possible we use the words the children have used to describe their own play. We use it to reflect on our own practise and also to share with parents.
The diary does not (and could not!) capture all the play that goes on. Rachel usually is the one who writes the observations. Please talk to her if you have any questions, comments or ideas.
March 05 Play Diary
Thursday 24th March
7 guest children, 3 adults. Edward, Luca, William, George, Tobias played rugby. Matilda and Luca were digging in the bonfire area with spades. Matilda a grave for her hamster and Luca a grave for himself. Matilda found glass, clay, a screw. Jonathan making a fire while Rachel turned over the compost and Louise stripped paper. Then Jonathan, George and Augee took over the digging with forks and a pickaxe. They found a stone at the bottom which we realised was part of the original line of stones along the paths. They started to fill wheel barrows of earth which Rachel wheeled away and dumped and brought back to be refilled. Thea was playing in the sitting room. Best bits: Will - mostly rugby, me and Luca went over to the hammock and took it in turns pushing each other; Jonathan - nothing.
Wednesday 23rd March
13 guest children, 3 adults. After tea we out outside in the garden - some had already gone straight out. Indra and Lydia swung in the hammock, pushed by George and Oscar, Luca. Children rode down the slope and over the ramp on likeabikes. Indra, Lydia, Thea made a camp in the climbing frame with blankets, chairs and gauze material. They marked out their 'territory' with fabric. We built a fire, Alex lit it and we attempted to make popcorn. Charlie whittled. Edward, Luc, Luca, George, Tobias played rugby. We got the sliddy slide out (long plastic sheet with water running down) and lots of children went sliddy sliding. Some rode likeabikes down it. Charlotte led a game of kick the can. Best bits: Josie - going on the likeabike; Charlie - finishing off my whistle and making the fire; Hannah - slippy slide - (Question to Hannah: What play did you do today?) (Answer: I went down the garden, sat around, played kick the can, I went to help the 'tribe', I came back up , had something to eat, I saw Edward cutting up Octopus, (it was a bit disgusting) and then I went down to slippy slide.); Luc - I loved playing rugby; Augee - I did 'playing rugby' and kicking with William.
Tuesday 22nd March
14 guest children, 4 adults. The Black Widows had the rubble area for a base. They had popcorn and rationed it to two pieces at a time. Tobias (3rd captain), Kai (Leader), Beth, Arti, George (2nd captain), Hannah. Kai wanted his captains to prove themselves worthy. The Black Widows attacked the White Snakes and captured the tree house as another base. The White Snakes - Oscar, Josh (Leader), Emerson, Johi - had the camp fire as base. Oscar whittled. Some other children - Emerson, Hannah, Matilda, Will - were going down a ramp (made from a futon base) on likeabikes and other vehicles. Kai hammered out a warning using a stick against a wheelbarrow. Robbie and Matilda swung on the swing, trying to kick a branch at their highest point. Later Joe, Robbie, Josh, and Tobias sat around the campfire chatting. Xavier was indoors for much of the session playing Klikko with Louise. Kai and Josh cleared around the back of the yew trees clashing undergrowth with pickaxes for Edward. Best bits: Hannah - going down the ramp with Matilda on likeabikes; Oscar - murdering Kai; Kai - devouring the dead plants; George - doing likeabikes; Robbie - watching Kai and Josh - it was funny; Johi - having the war; Josh - hitting down trees with Josh; Emerson - I don't know.
Thursday 17th March
10 guest children, 3 adults. Thea saw 2 wasps and heard 1 bee. The heather flowers are out as are the daffodils. Kai lay in a hammock he had brought along for the club, Arthur (2) climbed aboard. Edward, Tobias, Alex, Luca, William K played tag rugby. Matilda, Arram and Johi rode down the slope on likabikes. William K scored a try. Jonathan and Johi made a small bonfire with Rachel. Luca, Arram and Jonathan had a go spilting logs and kindling wood with Rachel. Best bits: Arram - going down the hill on the bikes - urrrnmmn!; Jonathan - my favourite bit was the fire and going down the hill on those things and I liked the chopping; Johi - nutin - you know it was all the same - it was really, really good; Kai - set up the hammock, rested in it, played rugby; Matilda - going down on those little likabikes; William - probably rugby; Thea - going down on the bikes; Alex - rugby.
Wednesday 16th March
7 children, 3 adults. Edward showed Josh the 'well' and Josh had the idea of a T-pee, Edward and Josh carried it down, and put it where the fire was laid out. We put a tarpaulin on and then removed it when we started the fire. Oscar and Josh carried on the 'Great Snakes'. Charlie whittled a stick. Oscar sawed elder and then a stick with a harder heart wood. Josh and Charlie cooked toast in the popcorn maker and then we cooked popcorn. Oscar's dad, Gordon, came down and sharpened the end of a stake. Inside Hannah, Tobias, Thea and Josie played with Clay. Oscar - making the fire, well, carving; Hannah - kick the can, then the boys spoiled it, played with clay.
Tuesday 15th March
10 children, 3 adults. Luca's birthday. For the first time this year we sat on the grass outside in the garden and it felt like spring was here. Meanwhile Starsky the rabbit had escaped and the children, in small groups, were trying tactics to catch or coax her back into her hutch. Edward and some children played rugby, kick the can. Some girls swung on the swing and climbed into the tree-house. Best bits: chasing Starsky; Oscar - 'going through the rapid jungle - the brambly bit behind the shed'; Xavier - kick the can.
Thursday 10th March
12 guest children, 4 adults. Best bits: Arram: kicking the ball to George and George kicking it back to me up hill and I was giving him marks out of 10. Kai - Today when we came here after some food I did my homework. I went out and in between playing rugby I helped light a fire and cooked popcorn. Then I played more rugby and then was the end. Tobias - zooming with that race car. Robbie - cooking sausages and eating them; Johi - Nutin and that's it; Beth - seeing the rabbit, he was kind of hopping around and we were poking sticks through and she was nibbling; Jonathan - making the fire - we started off with little sticks and put on bigger sticks and I by mistake put some grass on - I thought it would burn but actually it made it go out; William K - rugby; Matilda - played horses with Beth. We've been having fires - cooking eggs and sausages; Luca - playing rugby
Wednesday 9th March
12 guest children, 3 adults. William M - I liked building the fire; Lydia - probably playing kick the can; Josh - me and Oscar on our own played with each other most of the day - we built a wall around the fire, I liked watching Edward do the whistle; Indra - we played kick the can - it's like 40/40 and then we had a marshmallow; Charlie - made a whistle; Josie - I liked playing kick the can; Hannah - playing kick the can; Oscar - went down the garden and made a big fire with a fire wall of tiles; Matilda - playing a game going round people and the person in the middle says 'Freeze' (eyes closed) and they try to guess the right person's middle name; Thea - kicking the can. I did another game - somebody was on and George was being my pony and I leapt on him; Alex - me and Will K played torturing action man and 'rucksing' (play fighting) in the library, sword and shield outside.
Tuesday 8th March
10 guest children, 3 adults. Robbie - eating the apple; Beth - making that mud thing. There was this big hole, we made it bigger, filled it with water to make slump pie; Matilda - playing hiding game from grown-ups and doing mud pie; William K - playing rugby; Oscar - playing rugga with Ed; Xavier - I liked doing the mud thing.
Thursday 3rd March
12 guest children, 4 adults. Johi - probably nutin - everything - the fire; Arram - chopping tons; Kai - lighting the fire