Wednesday’s foggy morning prompted us to find a sunny alternative to going outside. We decided to go on a photo scavenger hunt at the senior’s Lodge next door. Outside each apartment, there are shelves holding personal souvenirs and keepsakes. The variety and authenticity of each shelf made it the perfect experience for us to collect photos and even interview the owners of these items.
Our plan was to walk through each of the three floors, taking stairs and the elevators to complete our mission. In the course of an hour, we managed to visit all 124 suites. What a collection of pictures we ended up with!
The walk was like taking a trip around the world. We saw artifacts from Africa, dancers from the Ukraine, delicate female figurines from Japan, Leprechauns from Ireland, elephants from India, and cross-stitch people from Scandinavia.
There were so many flowers! We recognized the bounty of colours, and were even able to identify sunflowers when we saw them. There were also many animals to name and mimic. Loons, wolves, polar bears, dogs, cats, parrots, chickens, owls, blue jays, ducks and rabbits. We got to meet a few of the seniors who showed us their animal figurines and talked about their personal connection to them. One particular senior we met was Mrs. Benoit, who greeted us with her German Shepherd. She told us that this reminded her of a favorite pet she once had.
What a collections of pictures we have! Our plan is to make a big collage of the photos and use it to enhance the children’s language development, and to recognize and appreciate different cultures. We are also going to laminate each individual picture and put them on a felt board to potentially use as a sorting and naming experience. This story board will give the children an opportunity to expand on their love of sorting out their pictures on the in-out board at entrance of our room.
A big thank you to all of the kind seniors we met on our excursion, and to everyone who puts so much thoughtfulness into their apartment doorway shelves.
Have a great weekend
Kaitlin, Kerry, & Erin