Hello one and all, welcome back to the best nature program of all! With Spring in the air and the sun on our hat-less hair, the lives of your Knee High Naturalists are spectacular and rare—take a peek!
After a snow day last week, we were so excited to be reunited we could hardly speak and we wanted to shriek! Friends arrived with big smiles and sparkling eyes, so excited to see their friends that they left the parents without goodbyes. It didn’t long for the shovels to come out and our hats to come off, the thought of going inside makes us scoff! We checked on the insect eggs we discovered on Monday, no hatching yet, so we left them covered. After all of our friends arrived, we cleaned up our area and sang our Good Morning song that makes us feel so alive! Off we went, waddling like penguins and then marching like ants, we started thinking we might not need our snow pants.
Still getting used to our new routine, we set down our backpacks and sat on the blanket, ready to read before digging into snack. We learned about all sorts of weather and talked about our experiences to understand it better. Some friends said they like to play in the rain, others said they like to splash in mud puddles again and again. We even had one friends who asked about hurricanes, to which another friend willingly explained, “When cold air and warm air meet, they swirl together and get bigger and bigger!” Knee High Naturalists, indeed! We went over our daily routine, talking about our day before we could wash our hands cleans. It’s safe to say that snack did not last long, we were so excited to play together after a long time gone! Before we could get started with our wonderful day, we took some time to learn about our weather chart and hear what others had to say. So smart are we, we knew every type of weather Ms. Aspen let us see! We decided that the season is still winter and today is partly sunny, a little windy and cool in temperature.
With our weather chart fun done, we cleaned up our snacks and re-packed our backpacks before hitting the trail without looking back. With our bucket of shovels and rakes in tow, we headed down to Bear Den, ready to go! It didn’t take long before we discovered that we felt a little colder with our heads uncovered. So back up the big hill we climbed, making sure everyone would stay warm for the rest of our time. Now we re-routed, this time Mini Mac was the destination! We stopped at the overlook to say hi to our faithful friend, the Boardman River, when we saw a man so far away, he looked like a sliver! It was our friend, Mr. Cam, so we excitedly waved, not believing we got to see so many friends today! Again, we were off, down the trail, looking for any signs of animals that we could read well. Down the big steps we went, curious to see what was around the bend. What a beautiful sight it was, Mini Mac looming just above!
There was someone enjoy the beautiful sight, so we kept hiking because we are polite! We were on a new trail, farther than we’ve ever gone before, we wondered what was ahead and were excited to see more. Big hills lined the trail to our side, we couldn’t help climbing up them and using them like a slide! We became ninjas and expertly stepped over the roots, quickly hopping to and fro, even in our boots. Suddenly, a big wooden trail stretched ahead, we took a moment to learn about safety and listen to what Ms. Miranda said. Thrilled to be exploring such a new place, we eagerly studied the water and vegetation with a slower pace. While no frogs were out today, they will be soon, we will come back and catch them in our mini lagoon! We learned about different amphibians like Spring Peepers and even saw sign of a Woodpecker, jeepers! Loving our newly discovered spot, we all gathered sticks and gave them a toss—into the water they went, sparking a conversation about what we could invent. Rainbow colored sticks are what came to mind, we might even be able to make them next time!
All too soon, it was time to turn around, we jumped, hopped and navigated the rooty, rocky ground. We wound our way back up the big steps, taking our time because our legs were just about spent! After ascending such a great hill, we all head to take a break and sit still. Once we felt like our energy was renewed, we continued our hike looking for anything new. We discovered that sticks make great drawing utensils in the sand and made art as we traveled across the land. Finally, we were back to our outdoor classroom, with giant rocks outside that we had to climb—zoom zoom! Our parents were all eagerly waiting to hear how our day was and how we were recreating.
Thank you all for another fantastic week in the life of your Knee High Naturalists! We look forward to seeing you all next week to learn about brilliant and beautiful birds!
