Fishing

The children have gone back to school but I’m not going to write about that yet.  The weather says it is still summer and my list of possible post topics is extensive so I’m going to stay in summer mode.

Last week the children engaged in an elaborate fishing adventure.  Years ago, when I first introduced sticks into our loose parts area, ‘fishing’ was the most popular use for the sticks.  The children often used sticks as fishing rods, found a spot to sit with a friend and together they would ‘fish’.

This was not really a dramatic play activity — this was conversation.  Talking was the main purpose but they liked to pretend they were fishing while they talked.  When we began gardening, the seating areas in the garden replaced ‘fishing’ as the favorite conversation area.

Last week’s fishing activity was different.  It started when one of the children
was trying to tie knots in the pieces of wheat straw that we had put in the loose parts area.  When one of the pieces of wheat was tied to a stick he announced it was a fishing rod.



Another child used a mesh bag attached to a stick to create a net with which he could catch fish too.



Then, using an old pine cone and a plastic pipe a spear was created,



and tested;



There are so many ways to catch fish;



Back at the campsite, the others started a fire;



But before the fish could be cooked, they had to be cleaned;



I’ve never taken the children fishing.  Still, through play they’ve shown me how much they already know about it.