Thursday, March 1, 2012

Owl Week for K

We started off at the creek this Tuesday, checking to see how the rain had affected the spot. Here are the boys fishing for salmon in the "east creek":
 There was also some fun jumping action that was getting everyone giggly:
 
 
 Fishing is pretty funny business sometimes.
We decided it was a good day for some fort building too, which we did over on the side of "owl valley". We stayed there to read and chart the animals owls do and don't eat.
 On Thursday we started off making owl puppets:
 Then we flew off into the woods, heading right for blackberry meadow on this sunny day. There we snacked, giggled, journalled, and listened to The Lorax, as both Dr. Seuss' birthday and the movie opening were the next day. These kids are such wonderful listeners, and this story is quite appropriate for this group of caring kids who can appreciate the message.
 I saw something recently about dangerous things you should let your kids do, and one was "spear throwing". Froggy Holler is the perfect place for this activity, since a kid can stand one at a time atop most any hill in the woods and throw a stick down without any danger of hurting anyone. The thought is that learning to throw something like a spear, "stimulates the frontal lobe of the brain, hones concentration, and increases visualization skills."(Gever Tulley)
So we've named another spot in these woods, "Spear Hill":
 You should have seen the look on the faces of the high school kids that ran past as I said, "Now hold your spear back like this..." Miss. I worked a bit of throwing, but also on balancing and being our captain atop this outpost:
 Then they were off down "speedy hill" at top speed, which is also a good chance for them to hone the physical spacial sense they need to understand their own power:
 At the bottom of the hill we slowed down to search under logs for beetles, centipedes and such. This ground beetle had what looked like tiny babies on her belly. Might not have been an owl, but still quite interesting!

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