Owls, Tues Pre

This group has had the special treat of getting to see the barred owl of Hamlin Park up close and personal, remember in the fall:

 

So, learning more about owls, acting as an owl family, and keeping a hopeful eye out for our pal was all easy enough for us to do this morning! 

We started off our morn making some owl puppets and learning a bit about the food chain of an owl:

Then it was on to Froggy Creek, where we all played the parts of a happy little owl family. An owl family that hunts for A LOT of fish that is, you know like hundreds of fish, that we cook over a little fire pit. We even called out, "Whoooo whooo!" to all the owls of the woods so they can come to our big fish eating party. If you don't watch out some fish might even end up in the trees at this wild sort of party! (These kids are TOO funny! ;))

Next it was time to fly off to "Owl Valley" where long ago I had seen our owl friend. 

There was no sign of her today, but we did pass by many small singing birds in the "swamp" and enjoyed reading a good owl story while snacking. This story helped us learn what owls do and don't eat, which we charted while reading. Of course, there was plenty more time flying around as owls, and exploring all around this big habitat of ours today.

Owl day was a hoot for me, and a fun one for all of us!

Outdoor Play

I've found quite a number of articles on outdoor play lately, and I'm sharing them here!

Here is a wonderful list of the benefits of outdoor play, from Let the Children Play.

When I play outside :

I take risks

I face challenges

I solve problems

I make choices

I belong

I learn about my world

I discover and explore

I experiment

I imagine

I create

I take responsibility

I collaborate, communicate and co-operate

I lead

I can be noisy, messy and adventurous

I am independent

I am resilient

My body is strong

I learn about the natural world

I invent

I build

I am calmer and less anxious

I have a strong immune system

I wonder

I feel good about myself

I can be wild

I can be still

I find out what my body can do

I observe, I smell, I listen, I touch, I taste

I focus and concentrate

I feel connected to the natural world

I watch things grow

I explore mathematical and scientific concepts

I solve conflicts

I pretend

I am motivated

I am curious

I am master of my universe

I am healthy

I make up stories

I master physical skills

I have fun

Outdoor Play is NOT a waste of time

FH Joy!

I'm catching up on Winter blog posts, sorry for the delay! But I had to share this pic as one of the many reasons I LOVE teaching these kiddos, 

This pic shows the game of "Froggy Holler" the kids invented where they ran back to the edge of this clearing, I'd call, "Froggy" and they'd answer, "Holler!" (this is our regular call and answer routine which this group loves) and then they'd run towards me as fast as they could grinning wide smiles and giving me a great big bear hug when they reached me! Does it get any better than that?! ;)

Using our Senses at the Pond, FH Thurs

 We had a FUN time at FH at Twin Ponds Park today! We really loved playing on the playground with our rain gear, especially zipping fast down the slides and chasing after Teacher Erin. 

 

We had fun exploring this new terrain, marching across bridges, and watching the rain on the pond.

We found the perfect tree sheltered area by the pond to learn more about mallards (or perhaps for them to learn about us...)

It was a great spot to snack, read together, learn about the senses,

 and chart which senses we used here at the pond. 

We also had a wonderful time playing, "Froggy!" "Holler!" the game the kids made up where they run off a bit, and when I shout "Froggy!" they turn back and say, "Holler!" and run at me as fast as they can! Having 4 sweet kiddos running at you smiling is a pretty wonderful way to spend the morning in my opinion. :)

We explored all around the pond today, 

and came back to the playground still full of happy energy, what a wonderful monring!

Using our Senses at the Pond, FH Tues

We had a wonderful visit to Twin Ponds Park today. We learned about mallard and bufflehead ducks, pond plants such as horsetails (and invasive plants such as blackberries), we learned about our different senses and charted out what we noticed with these senses here at the pond. We explored with the water (only getting a bit wet), and enjoyed the sunshine as it glittered on the water.

 We wrote in our journals since this warm spell didn't require mittened hands.

 

 On the way back we balanced carefully on this little bridge.

Of course we loved playing on the new playground as well! It was a lovely day at FH!

Hibernation Week, K

This week we started off with some properties of water exploration, yep the snow is still here!

 

We talked about where this water ends up and worked together to carve out a big chunk to load up on the drain, for a car to run over (guess who later did on her way out of the parking lot? ;)).  Then we went into a discussion and play time with wood chips!

Right after this a guy pulled up with his truck and loaded up, which we had to see for a minute of course. There was so much action at the park today!

We are really into the superhero play with this group right now, and here you see, "Blue Storm"

perhaps we should have suggested he be "Red Storm" for the day

There was lots of dramatic collapsing and such, which is pretty funny to witness. Oh and I can sometimes be talked into being a ghost or zombie in the woods, which I imagine is pretty funny for passers by since I'm frequently running into force fields and making goofball faces or falling down. These kids are so imaginative!

Thursday we were in the Froggy Creek neighborhood. It was so warm out the kids wanted paper and pencils to draw with (no chilly fingers today!) and there was lots of running around playing "Hibernation Tag" (aka freeze tag variation) in the sun.

 There was lots of fishing happening in the Froggy Creek as well. At one point this team really wanted to whack at some invasive English Ivy (which I allowed given it's absolutely invasive and in a mass right here):

 Meanwhile these 2 were next door catching large fish to cook up on our "camp fire" and fed to Hello Kitty and her pal:

 It was pretty sweet. 

Oh and we talked and read about Hibernation this week also. ;)