footprints

there is a surge of interest about footprints lately. i think it began when we found bunny tracks, squirrel tracks, and bird tracks in the snow outside of our classroom's back door. yesterday these children discovered that our toy animals make footprints too, and they descended on our trays of "moon sand" with horses and tigers and hippos. there was lots of jostling for positions at the trays, and i just stood back and took notes about how each one handled the conflict. some didn't think it was worth it, and wandered away. some used their elbows effectively. others stamped feet and wailed. we are planning to make play dough on monday, and i'll bring the animals over to see if tracks are made in the dough as well.

i like how this last photo highlights the differences in the different kinds of animal feet- i have many ideas percolating in my brain regarding an exploration of this: toes and claws and hooves and paws and oh my, the possibilities for sorting and categorizing...