Hello to one and all, welcome back to the best nature program of all! Grab your wind breaker, a pair of sunglasses and tag along for a day in the lives of your Knee High Naturalists.
A beautiful, warm and sunny morning welcomed us to class, inviting us to take off our layers and play. Everyone arrived without any snow gear in tow, just rain suits and rain boots for messy, muddy play. With all of the snow gone and the ground starting to warm, we could finally see all of the rocks and logs where our favorite friends live. We carefully began rolling little logs and flipping big rocks, finding roly poly’s, a centipede, tiny worms and a very interesting green bug! Though we thought the green bug was dead when we found him under a rock, he slowly began to stretch his legs and walk around, a little groggy after his long winter slumber. We began excitedly passing him around to our friends, very gentle not to hurt it! It turns out that this friendly little guy is an assassin bug , who knew! We soon decided it was time to get moving so we could enjoy the amazing day.
We took turns carrying Buddy the Raccoon to the pavilion, laughing as he moved from one friend to another. We quickly washed our hands and began snacking in the sun, enjoying the warmest day we’ve had in months. One of our friends brought a book for us to read called Safe Crossing by Kari Percival. We learned about the special ways that amphibians migrate at night after the first warm rain in the Spring! We also learned that these animals travel the same path that their ancestors did, which sometimes cross roads. People will shut down the roads at night and help salamanders and frogs safely travel over the roads! After our book, we investigate the different pelts and skulls in the pavilion, having fun guessing what the animals were and observing the different types of skulls and teeth. We all really like the elk jaw bone, it had huge teeth! We also really liked feeling the bobcat and beaver pelts, they were so soft.
Soon, we ready for our big day of adventure—we packed magnifying glasses and a few shovels before hitting the trail. We hiked along the river, finding dog tracks and deer tracks along the way. We finally made it to Jack’s Creek where we eagerly raced boats and sticks down the creek before harvesting mud to create collages on the cedar trees. We learned about lego grass (horsetail) and had fun taking them apart before restacking them or racing them down the creek, too. After spending most of our morning enjoying the sun and the gently moving creek, we decided we wanted to stop by the beach before heading home for the day. On our hike, we found a big Wooly Bear caterpillar slowly crawling along the trail, so we picked him up and decided to bring him to the beach, too. Once we arrived, we learned about safety near the river before rock hunting, tossing rocks and twigs into the river and taking on construction for our new caterpillar friend. A few friends worked together to create a comfy bed of moss for him to rest in, they even began creating a tent, but it was time for us to head back to the pavilion.
We took a secret trail along the river to get back, having fun running down the trail in the sand until we got too hot! We had to stop to take off our rain suits, hats and jackets before making our way up the last big hill. Once back, we got all of our gear packed away and met our families who were waiting to hear about our day.
Thank you all for a spectacular day in the lives of your Knee High Naturalists, we hope you’re able to get outside and enjoy the warm weather while it lasts! For our final week next Monday (3/16), we’ll be holding an award ceremony on the sidewalk at 11:45am to celebrate the growth and resilience of your naturalists over the past ten weeks. We also ask that you pack one special snack for your naturalist to enjoy during our celebration picnic. We look forward to celebrating with you all next week!
