Homeschooled Kids Play So Well Together

Today was homeschool soccer day. We love going to homeschool soccer. It is so much more than just an hour of soccer. The moms get to sit and chat for hours. After soccer the kids play all afternoon. Usually the little ones play on the swings and the slide on the playground. The older kids go off to play "in the woods." It's not really woods but a few trees that go down into a small valley. The kids like it because the moms can't really see them. You have to walk over to the edge of the hill to see what they are doing. They think it's a great place to play.

A few days ago we had a really bad storm. The aftermath of the storm is that there are tree branches down everywhere. Today one of the kids got an idea to drag some of the branches over to an area where there are a few trees in a circle. Pretty soon another child saw what he was doing and decided to join him. They had a branch that was too heavy for the two of them to drag so they called some of their friends over to help. I looked over to see ten kids dragging this huge branch across the little valley. They placed it between two of the trees. I saw that they had drug other branches between the other trees.

I went back to my conversation until one of the moms called another mom over to look at the kids. That's when I saw 20 or 25 kids dragging branches toward the circle of trees.

The little ones were carrying small branches. The bigger kids were carrying larger branches. They put the biggest ones in a circle between the trees. Then the put medium sized branches on top of the biggest ones. Then the little ones brought their contributions to the circle.

They held them up while the bigger kids put them on top. These kids had build a wonderful fort in the middle of the woods. My son said it was a hotel and they each had a room. Someone else said it was a big nest. I'm not sure what it was supposed to be. I was just so impressed with the way this large group of kids from 3 to 15 were working together to build this thing. They didn't have any adults giving them advice or telling them where to put the branches. They were working together and figuring it out themselves. It wasn't long until all the parents there were standing around looking at the creation their kids were involved in. Of course it wasn't long until cameras came out and everyone was snapping pictures. I felt bad that I only had cell phone camera. But I was so pleased to see that the only thing the parents were doing was taking pictures. No one stepped in to offer advice. No one stepped in to tell them how to do it better. They just let the kids work on their creation.

At one point the park ranger stopped by to see what was going on. He stood there amazed at the way these kids were working together. Have you witnessed a time when your kids worked together to create something awesome? What wonderful projects do you have to share with us? I know we are all so proud of our little ones. Please share with the rest of us one of the many awesome things your children have done.

Oh and that boy who thought it would be fun to drag the branches into the circle of trees, his name is Dakota. I'm his mom.