Hello all and welcome to the end of fall! We spent another wonderfully wet week exploring the forest with excited shrieks! Step into the world of our Knee High Naturalists to learn about how we run, shout, climb and twist…
We started off our day with a little rain play, under the pine trees whose branches gently swayed. Our shovels were digging and we were moving, not sitting! Once all of our friends arrived, we headed to the warm pavilion, the closest we can get to being “inside.” We listened to “Winter’s Gift” by Norma L. Gentner and dreamed about our next snow day fun, hoping we can soon build snowmen and igloos under a bright, sparkly sun.
We talked about our day, which of course, included play, sang our good morning anthem and washed our hands for snack that we dug out of our backpacks. With rain and wind blowing in, we hunkered down and played until we all got our gear around. With hats and mittens now adorning our friends, we did one last mitten check before calling our morning meeting to an end. We began our hike with one mission in mind; see how many pumpkins, squash and gourds we could find!
It wasn’t long before a tiny orange pumpkin was discovered, soon many more of all colors were uncovered! A white patty pan squash was perched in a tree, a hook shaped gourd was found hanging above you and me. Squash and gourds of all shapes and sizes were scattered around the pine forest like little surprises. Some had been nibbled by a mysterious critter who might make their home with this year’s leaf litter. It wasn’t long before we stumbled across our secret spot where we got to play, run and climb until we all got too hot!
Our fine and gross motor skills were put to the test as we scrambled up pine trees, refusing to rest! At one point it looked like there was a tree growing Knee Highs and there were three or four of us trying to touch the sky. Other friends used shovels and rakes, some even ran so hard there could have been earthquakes! Our social skills were being honed as we chit chat and play, no need for direction from our chaperones.
When we started to get chilly, we finished our pumpkin hunt with all kinds of silly. To end our day, Ms. Miranda taught us about the life cycle of pumpkins, we became the seeds and grew into squash out of seemingly nothin’! With the pumpkin life cycle learned, free time with Nature’s Mystery Box was earned. We passed around the box and promised not to peak as we reached our hands inside to find something neat. As we grabbed something from the box, we described what we were holding as everyone watched. Some friends guessed their objects correctly, other pulled out items that we held very gently—wood blocks, bones, fossils and more, we can’t wait until next time when we’ll use our senses to explore. With our hats and mittens back on, backpacks strapped on or being dragged along, we left with our adults until the next time we sing our good morning song.
Thank you all for another wonderful, wet and warm week of being a Knee High Naturalist! We’re excited for turkey talk next week, come prepared for gobbles and turkey speak!
