Hello to one and all, welcome back to the best nature program of all! Zip up your jackets, pull on your hats and get ready to learn about super cool survival skills.
A wet and windy morning greeted us as we arrived for our favorite day of the week, excited to spend time outdoors and explore. One of our favorite books, Moose On the Loose by Kathy Jo-Wargin, was back and we couldn’t wait to crack the spine and dig into the silly story. With new friends here today, we had some extra time to play before getting started with our day. We flipped many rocks, found many crawly critters like millipedes and a Wooly Bear caterpillar and even made a nest of leaves and debris to keep them warm. We may have had our quickest clean up yet with so many helping hands! We taught our new friends the Good Morning song before going over our schedule for the day, which always ends in nature play! We made our way to the pavilion where the wind had blown our supplies and blanket everywhere! We looked at a map, learned the basics of using a compass and chose our trail for the day. It wasn’t long before mittens were flying around the pavilion as we ate snack, what a windy day!
Some friends colored and some played, waiting until we were ready to begin our hike. We learned a big rule about survival skills today, always dress for the weather! We were so thankful Ms. Miranda was able to bring us extra mittens, hats and pants to help keep us warm. Finally, all mittens were on, all jackets were zipped and we were ready to roll! We had to stop at the boot station as we made our way through the forest, searching for signs of animals. We found deer tracks, evidence of rabbits munching on plants and even scat! We used our magnifying glasses to help see small details better and couldn’t pull ourselves away. We learned that if we’re ever lost, we should stay still and don’t try to find our way back! We also learned that humans can eat some of the same plants that animals eat if we ever need to find food in a pinch.
We made our way across a big meadow, finding tracks left and right as we crossed the field—can you believe what good nature detectives we are? At last, we made it to our final stop, Fort Alley! Everyone made quick work of resuming construction on existing forts, a team made sure to build a big “fire” for us all while another crew started sourcing and hauling building material. If we ever had to spend a night in the woods, I have a feeling that we would be very comfortable! Of course, we had many friends climbing trees, searching for insects and investigating super cool moss, too. Since it was so cold and windy today, we decided to spend our last few minutes exploring in the nature center to warm up before going home. We met Bonnie the Bobcat, Tom the Turkey, Ollie the Otter, Larry the Loon and Paula the Porcupine! We had so much fun meeting new animals as we waited for our parents, it was the perfect way to end class before a long break.
We wanted to thank you all for another spectacular day in the life of your Knee High Naturalists! We hope you have a wonderful 2 weeks off and can’t wait to see you all and catch up again on Monday, December 2nd!
