It’s raining, it’s pouring! The rain didn’t keep the Turtles from getting outside on our last day of the Winter Session. Gathering in our little deer bed (thanks to the Herons) after visiting and playing in the snow, we started our day with our affirmation and a quick check in to see how everyone was doing.
Once inside the hall, we got to work on our good copies of our poems. Some of us wrote an acrostic poem about snow and some created their own ideas. For example, “You are sneaky Black Bear” by Black Bear and “My favourite bird is Blue Jay because my favourite colour is blue." by Beaver. We are poets and we didn’t even know it!
Did you wonder how the snow snakes would work today? Dragonfly helped teach us how to measure our distances and the snakes went farther and faster as time passed and the snow got more slippery.
How did you like the snowball toss activity? There was a star, a snow hole and a bucket at different distances. Pileated Woodpecker got a hole in one by throwing his snowball into the hole! Did anyone get a snowball into the bucket? Red Fox and Grey Wolf both competed to throw the snowball the furthest.
Off to Sunrise Hill! Did you wonder how slippery the snow would be? Down we went at lightning speed! Watch out for those bumps! After lots of fast rides down the hill, the competition was on! Who could make the tallest snow tower? The Turtles joined with friends and they were off! Red Fox was the official judge using a stem of goldenrod as his measuring stick. Snapping Turtle and Catfish created the tallest followed by Hudson’s and then Black Bear and Grey Wolf. Thanks for helping them, Pileated Woodpecker and Monarch! Water Strider was supervising on the giant snowball he had rolled last week! I wonder if that big snowball will still be there in April?
On our walk back Cardinal and Pileated Woodpecker saw a Wooly Bear Caterpillar on top of the snow. I wonder what happened to that caterpillar and will we see it again? When we visited the library Grey Squirrel talked to us about Wooly Bear Caterpillars! What a coincidence! Did you know that the size of the stripes on their body predict what kind of winter we will have? Keep a look out for these furry creatures over the next few weeks. Do you think they will have a lot of black on their body? That will mean another cold and snowy winter. True or not, it is a fun way to investigate these little nature friends!
Who is up for a game of Frostbite Tag? Thanks to Monarch for being the doctor at the hospital! How many clothes pins did Jack Frost take from you? Everyone was running everywhere, trying not to go to the hospital for frostnip, superficial frostbite or deep frostbite. It reminded us about keeping our bodies warm as we ventured to Mystery Forest to visit our tree friends.
How was your tree friend? Did it look different than the last time? Beaver noticed buds on the branches of his tree. Grey Wolf noticed that a lot of the branches of his tree looked dead and unhealthy. Catfish made a burrow at his tree friend using sticks and pine branches. Black Bear used some sticks and a bit of dead wild cucumber for his burrow. I wonder who will visit your burrows? After sharing about the well-being our tree friends, we had a chance to wander for the last time in the Winter Session. What did you notice? Monarch and Cardinal noticed all the deer scat and even some coyote scat amongst the many animal footprints.
Back at Harrington Hall, we gathered for some games and our final farewell songs. Have a wonderful break and take time to enjoy nature at your own home or on your travels. Happy Trails!
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