Tribes - A Map of Fuzzyland

On Thursday last week, we had our second official Tribes session. Antony was absent on the day that Tribe members met each other, decided on a name, and made a banner - so this was his first time to get introduced to his tribal "family". The children are taking this very seriously, and try very hard to compromise, show respect to each other, and to be active listeners.

On this day, I read a story about Fuzzyland. You can read the story HERE. Warm fuzzies are an actual physical thing in the story (as are cold pricklies), but we talked about what these symbols meant. A warm fuzzy is basically anything that makes another person feel good - a hug, a smile, an act of kindness.

After reading the story, Tribes were given the challenge of making a map of Fuzzyland. This took compromise and listening skills as they were only give one piece of paper. One Tribe had initial difficulties in deciding who was going to draw what - but after just a few minutes a compromise was reached (without my help!). Another Tribe had two members doing all the work, and two members "goofing off". And the third Tribe was like a well-oiled machine of peaceful cooperation. An important part of any Tribes activity is the discussion afterwards - what worked well? What were the challenges? What can you do differently next time?

Then I taught the students how to make a warm fuzzy (a simple pom pom made out of yarn). Now we are all a little obsessed with making them, and I've been asked for "More yarn!", so it is off to the craft store for me this weekend. I hope you have been the recipient of some of your children's warm fuzzies - they have a lot to give!