Hello one and all, welcome back to the best nature program of all! Grab your sunglasses, tie on your paint smock and join us for a day in the lives of your Knee High Naturalists.
Crunchy leaves and the sweet smell of Fragrant sumac greeted us for class today. With big smiles and lots of laughs, many of us arrived with our favorite Halloween clothes on, excited to celebrate soon! We crunched down the path, kicking up leaves as we joined our friends in our favorite morning meeting spot. We read a book about fish with Ms. Jenn in a warm little sun spot as we waited for class to begin, happy to be together on such a beautiful morning. We eagerly raced to pick up cones and sat criss cross applesauce while we talked about our day and song the Good Morning Song. Since we are so good at sharing and using kindness, we let new friends pull the wagon today and helped guide them to the pavilion.
Cute little pumpkins were sitting out on the table, waiting to be decorated. We scrubbed our hands and unpacked our snack, settling in around the table with talk about costumes in the air. As we munched, crunched our tasty treats, we read Seaver the Weaver by Paul Czajak. We learned that it’s ok to have webs and ideas that are different from our friends! After we wrapped up snack, we found our (probably) last Walking Stick of the season. We took great care in handling him gently and proudly showing him to all of our friends! He tickled as he walked across our hands, spending time just relaxing with each of us instead of crawling all over. We found a nice spot for him on a rock and said goodbye, wishing him well this Winter.
Finally, it was time to paint our pumpkins! We all chose our favorite fruit (yes, pumpkins are technically fruit!) and found a sunny bench outside to decorate. We giggled, ooh’d and ahh’d at our friends’ designs, politely asking to share colors and encouraging everyone around us. An owl, a squirrel and spiderwebs came to light before our eyes! While we waited for our friends to wrap up, we used the bathroom before our hike and practiced our rock scrambling skills, making space for everyone. Our meteorologists decided that today was a warm, sunny Fall day and we all agreed! We selected our last pumpkins for dispersing in nature and began making our way to a new hiking spot. As we reached the bottom of the Oleson steps, someone accidently dropped their pumpkin and we all watched it bounce and roll before hitting the grass…this gave us a great idea!
We took turns unleashing our tiny pumpkins down the old Sabin Dam road, screaming and laughing with glee as we watched them roll, bounce and zig zag across the hill! We raced down after them and were able to recover all but one little pumpkin, hoping a squirrel would find it and feast soon. We continued to roll them until we hit the dirt path, now on the search for the perfect spot to leave them for our forest friends. We learned about Big Blue Stem grass and even spread some seeds before stopping at a tiny creek to watch the water trickle by. Someone rolled their pumpkin down the hill, into the tiny creek for the aquatic creatures to enjoy. We were disappointed when the shallow water didn’t carry it away and this is when our next brilliant plan was hatched! We turned around and headed back up the hill to cross the foot bridge…
Once at the middle of the bridge, we hoisted our little pumpkins high up in the air and tossed them into the river! We cheered as they splashed and popped back up, shooting through the rapids, bobbing around rocks as they made their way down river. One by one, we watched our pumpkins getting smaller and smaller as they rounded the bend, on their way out to Boardman Lake. After the pumpkin festivities, we scoped out and brand new trail and eagerly ran ahead, enjoying the sun on our faces and the sound of the river in our ears! We stopped to investigate a deer bedding area and discovered that it was squishy and bouncy—nature’s bounce house! After we all tested it out, we realized it was time to head back up and meet our families, excited to show them our pumpkins and tell them about our day.
Thank you all for a truly magical day in the lives of your Knee High Naturalists! We hope you have a wonderful weekend and a fantastic Halloween. We look forward to pictures of costumes next week and learning all about Fungus, Lichen and Moss!
