Club Day. The Birds of Prey Version.

Except for my own, the children in the Birds of Prey Club attend school.  Most of them go to the same school, so I pick them up from school and walk them back to our place to make things more convenient for their families.  In the days of September and early October, the students seemed to burst out of the school.  They seemed vibrant and alive and joyful.  Children merrily made their way to the playing field or to the play structure.  They lingered to bask in the fall air.  I had to work hard to spot my charges amongst the others happily playing.

Today was different.  It was a dreary day, as snow had fallen the night before and was threatening to dump more.  The ground was damp and the air was cool, but it was otherwise a nice afternoon for play.  The bell rang, and the pause between it and when the first child surfaced from the school seemed quite long.  The children trickled out one-by-one.  They moved slowly.  A small handful lingered to play after school. 

Once we got back to our house, the children were bursting with life and were full of endless energy.  I kicked myself for not having a book ready to bring them in for our activity, making totem poles.  They did their best, and I attempted to draw their conversation to the activity by asking them questions about totem poles themselves and the animals that they were colouring.  When the craft was all wrapped up, they enthusiastically ran outside to play the game they all love and that always changes - I assume there were still army generals and musketeers, but that the storyline changed somewhat. 

I wondered if they had many opportunities to get outside over the last couple of weeks.  And now that the weather has changed, they may be spending more time doing bookwork and other "thinking" things.  As we get closer to winter, I think I'll plan some activities that may better fit their bursts of energy and dramatic flair, including some more outside time.