In O.E., students can explore their natural world, develop a deeper appreciation of the environment, and build teamwork skills by working together through a series of sensory awareness exercises that incorporate hearing, touch, taste, smell, and intuition.

Today a fun activity: ‘Sculpture’ – involved having each student get a chance to feel an object (in this case a large shell) placed under a sheet.  Working with clay, each student sculpted a replica of the item from all they absorbed through ‘touch’.  It was fun to discover whether the sculpture was a good replica by placing it under the sheet and feeling both.

We also learned a new variation of tag called ‘elbow tag’.

Black Bats honed sensory awareness through an interesting activity – ‘Pictures in our hands’.  When we are out whether we are in the wilderness or the city we usually notice the big things and forget about the small things.  We may see skyscrapers, trees and busses. We may miss the insects, tiny flowers and small inscriptions.  By looking through a small cardboard tube as a frame for a picture, we found we noticed smaller objects and fine detail in the outdoor setting.

We learned a new game – ‘Steal the Fish’ which has some similarities with the familiar ‘red light green light’.  This game offers students opportunities in listening, collaboration, and leadership while having a lot of fun!

The Black Bats braved early season snow and cold today!  We warmed our bodies playing freeze tag, switching leaders and changing dynamics often.

We discussed the importance of listening as new games are introduced, and this led to a more in depth conversation on what it means to be a part of a team.  Individuals offered thoughts on what it takes for a team to function successfully as well as behaviors/attitudes that may be detrimental to working together.  We are focusing on everyone contributing to group success!

We created a running track and ran laps together as the ‘Lightning’ team.  We ran hard and fast to beat our best group time!