When you least expect it, other adventures come along. This could really be our theme every nature school day. Despite all the planning and organizing, nature often steals centre stage. Today it was the unexpected downpour that sparked some ingenuity to keep the team dry. Enjoy watching this day unfold and take note of all the times where it's something unexpected that captivates the kids!
We discovered a wet spot when we were looking at tree buds. The mud was deep and the water was bubbling up. This made us all very curious about why this as happening and what was going on under the ground. A few forest friends stuck some sticks in the hole where the water was bubbling up. How far did the stick go down into the ground. Did someone almost get stuck?
We are having fun learning different bird calls. The American Robin has been a focus for us. How many different kinds of calls does it make? Can your child demonstrate a call for you? Does your child have an emotional connection to birds? Does the call of a certain bird make them feel happy? Soon we will all be singing like the birds.
Taking a closer look at trees and the buds they make we can start to appreciate the variety of trees growing at Harrington. The bud is a little suitcase that has everything in it to grow into a flower, leaf or shoot. Buds have small scales that fall off when the plant is growing. Lots of trees had leaves out already but there were a few that were still buds or just opening up. I wonder what these trees are waiting for? Thanks to Monarch for being our little bud in the roleplay. Ask about our budding buddy scavenger hunt and what was found. Keep on the lookout for this fast unfolding.
Under the branches of the trees of Cedar Hideaway we didn't notice the rain coming down. When exploring and discovering in the rain, we got a little wet but had fun. The creatures we found were given very creative names. It was easy to find snails on the wet trees. Pots of food were made and eaten (pretending). Brown coloured drinks were made and enjoyed (pretending). While whittling wood we remembered to sharped knife to make this easier. Learning and wandering!
At library time, Grey Squirrel had a nature weaving activity waiting for us. What was the string called that did not move? (warp ) What was the string called that you weaved into the other strings? (weft). Thanks for all the prepping so we could experience this great activity GS!
Each person put the warp string onto his/her looms. Then, there was a choice of sticks, dandelions, ferns, daisies, etc. to weave through our warp strings. Lynx caught on quickly to the over/under pattern. Firefly used ferns for all of her weft strings while Sunflower used a variety of materials. Everyone enjoyed this, including the leaders who made their own nature weavings. Each weaving was unique!
Willow put a different twist on bird beaks. She had different items such as elastics, popsicle sticks, wooden dice cubes, beads, twine pieces, bingo chips, as our organisms in a tray. Each person acting like a bird chose a beak to use to gather their food. Ask what kind of beak helped each bird; robins have pointed beaks (tongs, chopsticks, tweezers) for picking up worms, hawks have curved tearing beaks (curved pliers) to rip small animals apart, mallard ducks have straining beaks (spaghetti strainer) where small teeth at the sides of their mouths strain the water out of their mouths and leave the organisms, while nuthatches have cracking beaks (pliers) to crack nuts and seeds open. What else do birds use their beaks for? Hawk said to preen their feathers and Wolf added to help build their homes and nests. They also use them for defence.
We wrapped up using new spaces in the Hall. Stairway journaling and carpet spool knitting.…no problem! Throw a little singing in, and it’s absolutely perfect. These kids' voices fill this old church, harkening back to the harmonic choirs of old. So great to feel such happy contentment to end our spring day together. Thank you so much to Bluebird (Betty) for coming back again to make sure all is well with our new crafting. Happy bud watching until we meet again next week Forest Friends:).
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