<p>
	Imagination and inspiration are two words that can summarize my experience over the past four weeks at Au Sable.</p>
<p>
	<img alt="" src="{filedir_5}Lauren21.jpg" style="width: 300px; height: 225px; float: right; " />Working with children reminded me what it&rsquo;s like to approach the world from an imaginative perspective.&nbsp; Taking them into the quinzy or on hikes and having children suggest imaginative games such as &ldquo;You can be the momma bear, and we&rsquo;re your cubs in our big cave,&rdquo; or &ldquo;We&rsquo;re all the snowshoe hares, and when we reach the end of our hike we&rsquo;ve reached our home,&rdquo; makes exploring the woods a new experience every time.&nbsp; These little one sentence story-lines are the beginnings of continuous pretend games that allow the children to get out into the woods and explore, seeing the world in ways they haven&rsquo;t experienced before.&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	Even using my own imagination as I went for snowshoe hikes or skied through the woods made me think about things differently.&nbsp; Renaming plants or asking creative &ldquo;what-if&rdquo; questions gets your brain thinking in new directions.&nbsp; Imagine being in a snow globe as the snow drifts slowly down or that you&rsquo;re back in the period of the Native Americans and trying to use birch bark for a variety of different things.&nbsp; Soon each day becomes exciting with new things to learn and mysteries to solve.</p>
