Hello to one and all, welcome back to the best nature program of all! Zip, buckle and velcro your many layers, put on your warmest hat and hunker down to learn about a frigid day in the lives of your Arctic Explorers Knee High Naturalists.
We started out the crisp morning with lots of puffy waddles and half hidden faces, ready to play on a very cold day. Our snow paint didn’t stand a chance today, so we used rakes and shovels to chip, scratch and grate ice away. We then wondered if there were any insects living under a little log so we chiseled and dug until we were all able to finally break the wood free! Unfortunately, there was no one underneath to see. We used our activity dice to roll like snow balls and waddle like penguins before we officially started our day. Our morning meeting was quick and our Good Morning song grows louder with every class! We took turns pushing and pulling the cart to the pavilion—can you believe how well we work together?
Once we were in our warm outdoor classroom, we found the warmest picnic tables, set out our snack and quickly took our many mittens off to wash our hands. We helped each other get our mittens back on and snack open before we finally dug in! It wasn’t long before the handwarmers came out and we got to hold them in our pockets, amazed by how quickly they warmed our hands. The snow was calling to us and we couldn’t resist so we began to climb, slide and roll down our favorite “hill” while we waited for today’s science experiment! Bubbles were brought out and we all guessed what we though would happen in such cold weather. Some friends said they would float, others said they would freeze—we were pleased to discover that both were true! The bubbles would bounce onto the snow where we watched ice crystals quickly form, turning them into little balls of ice, how nice! We decided it was time for a warming break so we packed up our gear and headed inside the nature center where coloring pages, books and a lantern greeted us.
We listened to the book Snowy, Blowy Winter by Bob Raczka as we colored pine cones, snowflakes, bears and turkeys. We all agreed that a cup of hot cocoa may be in order after class! We took time to explore the nature center and meet animals like the bobcat, badger, white tailed deer, black bear, coyotes and more. We even learned that many people would wear animal furs on such a cold day many, many years ago! After we had warmed up too much, we put all of our layers back on and headed outside to become Winter Olympians. We crawled under hula hoops, hopped over sticks, shoveled 3 loads of snow, balanced on a “tight rope",” tossed beets into buckets and finished our race with sledding down the hill! We were wonder winter athletes, all of our fine and gross motor skills to breeze through the obstacle course with ease. Many friends went again, some raced their siblings and some raced each other before ending the day with snowy, blowy winter play. Sun spiders began to appear as logs rolled down our sledding hill—today was such a thrill! All too soon it was time to go home so we picked up our toys and headed inside, ready to be rid of our many layers.
We want to thank you all so much for a truly incredible day in the Polar Vortex. Your naturalists were incredible, found the joy in such a frigid day and did not hesitate to partake in play. You are raising resilient, hearty little humans who feel right at home in the outdoors! We can’t wait to see you all next week to become Planet Protectors.
