Orienteering 101

This week we continued to talk about the cardinal directions with a link to weather. The winds that come our way from different directions bring different kinds of weather. Generally, winds from the north bring cold weather. Winds from the east bring wet weather. Winds from the south bring warm, often wet weather. And winds from the west bring dry, warm weather.  This week we were able to talk about a nor'easter and how this storm brings cold, wet, stormy weather as winds are coming from a northeasterly direction.

The kids had fun with some "Simon Says" about directions - Simon says point to the south, Simon says clap to the west, Simon says take 10 paces to the north. They also enjoyed running to certain landmarks using directional clues - touch the southernmost wall, the westernmost tree, the easternmost picnic table. It was interesting to see how some kids were willing to just follow the pack while others took a risk when their assessment of the direction diverged from the running mob.     
We capped off by thinking about in which direction we would move in to walk to our different school locations like the gym, the library and the cafeteria. We hope this practice will get kids ready for a compass challenge!

Check out pictures below of our outdoor adventures with north, south, east and west!