maple sugaring adventure circle

Here's our Adventure Circle for the month of March, all about Maple Sugaring, an important seasonal activity here in New England. I've indicated what each movement activity focuses on (in regards to sensory work) and also which volume of the Enki Education Movement program the verses and songs can be found in, either Kindergarten (K) or Grade One.

Call: Round and Round

“Once upon a time there were two boys who lived on a farm in Connecticut. Winter was coming to a close, and Princess Spring was just around the corner.”

Opening: King Winter (K)

“This was the time of year that the Root Children awoke from their winter‘s sleep and began hauling their buckets of sweet water up and down the maple trees trunks. When the days got warmer and the nights stayed cold, the boys knew it was time to get on their horses and hammer taps into the trees.”

Awakening Breath/Vestibular/Proprioceptive: **Jump up and down hall on Moon Bounces** while singing repeating verse 3xs:

Repeating Verse: Haul Sweet Water (K, pg 201) -- at end of each verse, stop to hammer on walls with fists.

“The boys had almost all of the trees tapped. They just needed to jump across the stream to hammer a couple of taps into the big old maple on the other side.”

Jump Rope Game: (recite verse while jumping rope)

“Whirling winds around me fly,
How will I get to the other side?
Over the stream in one big leap,
Safely across to tap the trees.”

“The boys rode back to the barn to put their equipment away and brush and feed their horses.”

Repeating Verse: Haul Sweet Water (K, pg 201) -- while bouncing down hall and back on moon bounce again

“They turned in for an early bedtime, knowing that there was much work awaiting them tomorrow.”

Walk down hallway to bedroom and crawl into bed while singing Sleep Root Children (K, pg 200).

“The North Wind blew cold all night, and the boys snuggled cozy in their quilts to keep warm. Eventually, the sun came up, and the boys jumped out of bed to greet the busy day.”

Proprioception: Rise With The Morning -- Spring Version (Grade One, pg 66) move down hall to living room while singing 1st verse, then follow suggested movements.

“The boys’ first job was to harness the horses and hitch them to the sled which would carry the barrels of sweet water back to the sugar house. The boys were surprised to find that one of the horses had kicked off a shoe in her stall during the night. They set to work right away replacing it.”

Midline: My Little Pony (K, pg 73)

“Once the shoes were squared away, the boys quickly harnessed the horses and drove the sled to the maple stand. The horses were in fine spirits on this bright March morning, and they picked up their feet higher and higher as they moved through the fresh Sugar Snow.”

Midline: Horses (K, pg 76)

“The boys drove the team from tree to tree, pouring the sweet water sap from the buckets into the barrels on the sled.”

Move up and down hallway, miming bucket-pouring, singing:

Repeating Verse: Haul Sweet Water (K, pg 201)

“When the boys had visited every Maple and collected all of the sweet water, the horses pulled the sled, heavy with barrels full of sap, to the sugar house.”

Midlines/Core Strength: **(pull themselves up and down hallway with arms, belly down on scooter boards)** while singing Haul Sweet Water (K, pg 201)

“At the sugar house, the boys poured the sweet water from the barrels into the pan, then built a fire under the pan to boil the sap. As the pan heated up, the boys stirred the sweet water to heat the sap evenly until it was finally bubbling.”

Vestibular/Proprioceptive: spinning/jumping while singing to tune of Spinning Wheel (Grade One, pg 117):

Stirring, stirring, gently stirring (spinning with arms extended)
Round and round the sweet water goes.
Bubbling, bubbling, always bubbling, (jumping/hopping)
Boil the sap ’til it gets low. (flatten out on ground)

“Steam rose out of the pan and the air was filled with the sweet scent of maple. The lower the sweet water in the pan got, the thicker it became, until finally, it became so thick that i wasn't sap anymore. It was syrup! The boys took a spoonful of syrup outdoors and poured it on the snow, where it hardened into maple candy.”

Midline/Motor Planning: Molasses Candy (Grade one, pg 78) -- substitute “Maple Candy” for “Molasses Candy” -- weave through chairs (skipping) on refrain

“There was another long day of collecting and boiling sap ahead of them tomorrow, so the boys walked back to their house to go to sleep and dream of syrup and maple candy.”

Closing/Lullabye: Sleep Root Children (K, pg 200)