Farewell Giant...

Giant, you arrived when Stockholm was covered in snow, and it had been for quite some time. There was plenty of time for sledging, building snowmen and snow forts

when the ice and snow began to melt it gave us the chance to play in the very cold mud, although sometimes we had to crack the ice to get to the muddy puddles underneath

we have experimented with ice indoors too - freezing things inside the ice,  coloured ice and experimenting with how it melts and the feel of water

we have collected ice outside and created ice exhibitions...

but most fun was the water underneath the ice - after so many frozen months it was so exciting to play with water outside and to be able to mix it with sand and mud...

we made a sensory table - as we loved exploring the world through our senses and we wanted more opportunities to experiment and feel...

we have made art with spaghetti so that we could feel the long spaghetti squish between out fingers and also create art TOGETHER

we have explored mixing different mediums together to create new textures and experiment with different sizes

we have had the chance to explore sensory materials with all our body...

and have laughed a lot

we have even shared our sensory experiences with our parents at the parent evening ... it was a chance for Giant to meet all the grown-ups!

we have explored bendaroos...

but a firm favourite has been the sensory experience of paint

many many times our hands have taken on a new colour

we have shown you, Giant how we celebrate Easter in Sweden - when it is still cold and icy outside, Easter brings the promise of spring

rolling Easter Eggs as a collaborative artwork 

as spring arrived we went to the forest more often - looking for flowers and for nature waking up after its long winter sleep

sometimes we just ran and ran and laughed and laughed

and finally those signs of spring appeared... slowly at first

it made going to the forest even more exciting

building small houses, running between trees, jumping from stone to stone... so much to discover and to play

you have counted with us - learning how to count in Swedish and we have learned how to count in English

we have done art activities that have been a part of philosophy - learning about understanding how we all can have different perspectives of them same thing. Giant, you have listened to many philosophical dialogues... and this has just been the beginning of our philosophical journey...

we have played and played with so many different materials

and we have shared our traditions - Walpurgis Night with the big bonfires to sing in spring.

Förskolans Dag (National Preschool Day) where we took lots of water experiments out into the square

Swedish Midsummer - singing songs and celebrating the warmth of summer and all the greenness

International Mud Day - lots of muddy fun on the square

Summer picnic with the parents and kite-flying... sadly the weather did not want to put its summer side on!!

you have come out to play with us - watch us pretend to plant seeds

feel the new sand with your feet

watched fires being put out in the forest

and explored the rain with all our senses...

the rain brought out the snails - and from that day on the garden became known as "The Snail Park" - we return to it again and again and have marveled at how it has grown and changed.

it might be small - but we have discovered so much here... about nature and about our own capabilities

we have interacted with art, traveling across town to get there

we have created our own art and interacted with that...

we have interacted with nature - both outdoors and indoors, discovering things we never knew before - like that red rose petals create purple marks on paper...

we celebrated July 4th in your honour, learning a little more about USA

Giant we hope you have had a wonderful 4 months with us - and we wish you a wonderful journey back home to USA. Thank you for staying with us and allowing us to find out more about where you come from...