Hello one and all, welcome back to the best nature program of all! Pack a bag with your favorite snacks, grab your Michigan animal guide and join us for a day in the life of your Knee High Naturalists.
A beautiful, sun lit forest welcomed us to class, inviting us to play and explore! Every friend, new and old, arrived to class with big smiles and lots of excitement to catch up and explore together. Some friends explored our Talking Tub with natural items like feathers and fur, a beaver skull, a deer jaw bone and a coyote skull. As we picked up each new item, we wondered out loud what is was and where it came from! This gave us an opportunity to learn about these different animals and what they eat based on their teeth. Some of us made quick work of flipping rocks and logs until we hit the jackpot…a log with more than 100 roly-polies and sow bugs in the soil and living on the log! We took turns holding these friendly little critters, observing them with magnifying glasses and marveling over them. Some friends even found snails and a millipede, too!
After free play, we helped pick up our daily tools (shovels, rakes, magnifying glasses) and cones before settling in to start our day. We talked about our plan to become animal investigators and take a hike to search for signs of wild critters! For our Good Morning Song, we had an old friend help lead and sing the whole song, we had so much fun! After this, we packed our wagon and helped each other push the wagon to the pavilion for snack. We washed our hands and settled in, excited to munch and crunch as we talked about our pets at home and voted on a book. Today, we read A Frog On a Log In a Bog by Karma Wilson. We couldn’t help but laugh and scream as the frog ate more and more and more bugs and growing huge before realizing that his “log” was actually an alligator! After snack, we honed our climbing skills and colored before our daily lesson. We decided that the weather today was warm and sunny!
We explored animal pelts and taxidermy of a Snowshoe Hare and Great Horned Owl. We learned that beavers and rabbits eat plants and vegetables, not animals! They were both very soft. We touched the owl’s sharp beak and claws and learned that they use these things to hunt and eat other animals. Bobcats also hunt other animals and are nocturnal likes owls—they sleep during the day and hunt at night! We looked at our Michigan Tracks guide to train our eyes before hitting the trail.
On the way, we learned about birch trees and found two very fuzzy caterpillars, one had perfect camouflage for a birch tree! We felt Staghorn Sumac twigs and discovered that they are soft and fuzzy, just like their berries. We ran down the hill, practicing pausing to wait for our group before moving ahead—we have excellent listening ears! We ran across the bridge, too, so excited to be exploring together on such a beautiful day. We found a praying mantis that landed on someone’s shoulder and what we believe to be dog scat before seeking out shade. We found a lady bug and fuzzy bumblebees along the trail, we heard birds and saw them eating seeds from dead flowers!
Finally, we made it to Jack’s Creek and were happy to have shade and a cool breeze under the cedars. We learned about creek rules and safety before hopping into the sand for an up close encounter with the creek. On the sand bar, we noticed animal tracks and claw marks. After closer observation, we decided that the tracks look like they belonged to a dog! We tossed in sticks and leaves, watching them race by and head down stream! We tossed in rocks, laughing as they made different sounds and sunk to the creek bottom. Some of us harvested sand and mud to build little sculptures on shore, decorated with sticks and leaves.
Eventually, it was time for us to turn around head back to the pavilion for the end of the day. We were strong and hiked all the way up the big hill without stopping! Once we got back, we packed our bags and helped each other move to the wagon to our pick-up spot, excited to tell our families all about our fun day!
Thank you all for a magical day in the lives of your Knee High Naturalists! We had so much fun enjoying the beautiful weather together and look forward to seeing you all next week when we learn about Wonderful Water.
