Elena is a curious little girl who loves being outside no matter what the season is, every season is her favorite season in different ways. Her appreciation of nature is not only evident in how she observes her surroundings but also in how she remembers and describes them in great detail. Observing the outdoors from the window, she often asks, “Go outside?”
Spring brings beautiful cherry blossoms with frequent walks around the block. Elena always has an assorted collection of flowers, sticks, leaves, pebbles and keeps an eye out for “dandelion bubbles”, “the moon”, and “rocket airplanes”. She loves pointing out the sights and sounds of local wildlife: squirrels, birds, owls, rabbits, bugs, and the occasional deer. She greets every passerby with a cheerful “good morning” no matter the time of day and enjoys watching rainstorms from inside while occasionally requesting to go outside to use her umbrella when the thunder has gone away.
During the summer we frequently use the stroller to go to the nearby park where she likes to run around in the open grassy fields. She is incredibly aware of her surroundings and has memorized the directions to the park and will point/instruct which way to go. When preparing to cross a road she’ll practice saying “stop and think…look…no cars” for a safe crossing. When at the park she has a knack for using ordinary objects in creative imaginary play. She loves to sing ‘theme songs’ when going down the slide, talk to birds, play hide-in-seek in bushes, pointing to the clouds, or hopping on the rocks while wearing her flower sun hat and pink rainbow sunglasses.
During the Fall, Elena loves marching, rolling, and ‘splashing’ around in the leaves. Whenever she comes across a big pile of leaves she can’t resist testing them out, often going from pile-to-pile in zig zags. This time of year also brings out a heavy population of the local squirrels which she loves to observe and chase, she’ll often follow suit and start to collect acorns of her own and individually handpick her favorite colored leaves. She also loves playing with the trees, marching around the trunk in circles occasionally stopping to give the tree a hug, looking for bugs, playing peek-a-boo, and asking “uppity up” to touch the branches above or for help to sit in her favorite tree. Another favorite game dubbed “jump on the stump” evolved from a treasured tree stump that has become a frequent destination.
Elena’s adventurous spirit is not deterred by the cold of winter. Whenever it snows, she’ll take the initiative to collect all of her essential gear to expedite going out to play in the snow. Her snow routine usually includes: building at least one snowman while singing Frozen songs, making snowballs and throwing them in random directions while laughing, and cautiously dusting the fresh snow off nearby trees and bushes. Even in the winter she often likes to do her routine “block walk” despite the cold. No matter the season, this sweet girl sees the everyday beauty in just about everything.