The children make teeny jam sandwiches as part of snack again on Tuesday – perhaps providing the inspiration for their play on Wednesday, when children make sandwiches for each other at the clay table. Just as they take care of the babies by giving them bottles, the children care for each other by handing out sandwiches. It starts with simply tearing off a chunk of clay and offering it to another child/adult; gradually techniques are tried, such as pounding the piece flat before handing it off, or bringing over the wood slices and putting clay between them, sometimes adding a flattened piece on top as well.
During this time, Jamie is taking care, too – of the birds. Every day he begins the day by taking care of his bird, lovingly putting it to bed inside a block and covering it up. Today, he cares for his bird and then other birds as well, again putting them carefully to bed in the blocks area. When a child wonders where her bird has gone, Mark tells her that Jamie has been putting the birds to bed, and she should ask him. Off she goes to retrieve her bird. The children are curious about Jamie’s play, and when they go to the blocks area, many become interested and join him to try it, too.
Later on, Lila takes care of her bird by initially trying to cover the bird’s home with an orange square of felt, but then finds that it’s more satisfying to wrap the bird in it, announcing that it’s a blankie for the bird.
As she brings it over to where Jamie has put his bird to bed, she sees a set of blocks set up and comments that it is a crib, noticing how it resembles the bars in a crib. Then she puts her bird in the block where Jamie’s bird is, taking his out. Jamie objects – he wants both birds in. It is confusing because after Jamie set up this area, he had left, and so technically, it’s fair game; and yet, his bird is still there, so it’s still being used. What to do?
We remind Jamie that yesterday he put one bird in each bed when setting up the area . . .
