Hello one and all, welcome to the best nature program of all! Grab your magnifying glasses, bring along your sense of adventure and join us for a day in the life of your Knee High Naturalists.
We started off the first day of class full of smiles, curiosity and excitement abound! As each new naturalist arrived, they were greeted warmly and eagerly invited by new friends to investigate roly-polies with magnifying glasses in hand. We flipped long logs and skinny sticks, big rocks and little stones in search of the critters who call them home.
At least 100 pill bugs and sow bugs scurried across our hands, over our toes and under pine needles. Tiny snails and big, yellow slugs stayed put as we observed them and their damp habitat. We even found one teeny tiny Red-backed salamander hunkered down under an old log! We took turns holding him as he wiggled and tickled our hands, trying to climb into our sleeves to keep warm on the chilly morning.
We all helped clean up our little shovels, rakes and magnifying glasses, then we took turns racing to pick up our boundary cones. When we were all settled on the blanket, we talked about our day, learned our routine and decided we would finish the morning meeting after a quick bathroom break! We helped each other pull/push our wagon to the pavilion, laughing as we worked together. We washed our hands, unpacked our snack and settled in for tasty treats like peaches, cucumbers, olives, applesauce and crackers. As we snacked, we chatted and made new friends or caught up with old ones, happy to spend the morning together.
Too excited to eat all of our snack, we packed up our snack supplies and colored or became mountaineering rock climbers! After some very fun rocky play, we decided we might need to eat a little more snack for the big, fun day. We took this time to learn our Good Morning song and talk about our rules before doing today’s weather. Taking turns and making observations, each friend came up and told us the weather (partly cloudy), season (almost fall, but still summer) and temperature (cold)! With all of our morning missions out of the way, we grabbed our trusty shovels to aid in our adventure.
To celebrate a very special first day, we took one quick lap around the nature center, touching animals like bobcats, bears, badgers and beaver teeth before hitting the trail together! We explored the sensory garden where we watched bumblebees on Golden rod, stopped by the eagle nest and explored the Storybook Trail. We found acorns, pinecones and lots of fun animals like owls, opossums and raccoons as we looked through the book. We stopped by the amphitheater and took turns on the stage before making our way to Pine Forest for the very first time!
We learned about our safe boundaries, talked about tree climbing rules and fort building before setting off for exploration together. Some friends tried their hand at tree climbing, waiting patiently for their turn. Some friends began to dig, searching for crawling critters while other investigated the fort. We discovered old Turkey Tail mushrooms that were shades of brown and white. We noticed that they were very soft to touch! As we rolled logs, we found a big centipede, little millipedes and wood roaches! Some of us held these critters for the first time, laughing as they crawled over our hands. We even found an old deer bones, we noticed it was hollow and had little teeth marks on it!
We found a big log and decided it was the perfect balance beam, so we pulled into our boundary and took turns balancing with trees as we made our way across. We ran and chased each other, our excited laughs and shouts filling the forest! All too soon, it was time for us to head home. Sad to leave, but excited to see our families, we made our way back and were greeted by the warm sun. We took off our jackets, sweatshirts and suits before heading back to our families, smiles on our faces and new friends by our side.
We want to thank you all for an incredible first day of Knee High Naturalists! We had such a wonderful time watching your naturalists explore, climb, learn, build friendships and show courage throughout class. We’re already looking forward to seeing you again next week when we become Animal Investigators!
