Thursday, March 28, 2013

Worms, Slugs, and Snails Oh My! Winter Closing

We ended our winter session with fun learning about worms, slugs, and snails and celebrating the winter together with hot cocoa!
Tuesday Froglets:
We went on a bunny hunt and found 2 cuties across the road from the park. We decided we better keep an eye out for easter eggs...
In the woods we really went to town searching under logs, finding witches butter, sliding down hills etc. We had a fun celebratory day!
Tuesday Frogs:
We found a fort that really needed our attention today and worked hard to make it better,
Then we had our party in the woods during story and snack time:
Then it was time for a jumping party!
Wednesday Froglets:
It was Seriously WINDY! for us so we gazed up at the dizzying trees during snack and marveled at how fast the clouds were going by:
Of course we also used regular doses of froggy strength, keen observation skills, and kid powered creativity to power our day!
Thursday Tadpoles:
The tadpoles did an excellent job of using their little magnifiers to investigate under logs:
 We also were amazed by this downed tree which must of fallen overnight from all the wind!
 All of the classes were full of hardy Winter FH kiddos who did a great job learning outside and I'm happy they were able to join us adventuring together during the colder, rainier part of the year!

Friday, March 15, 2013

Shoreview Park!

We had our "field trip" at Shoreview Park this week! For some families this was a new venue, hooray for learning about new parks!
Tuesday Froglets:
We flew around the park like birds, put on a show, hung out "backstage" in the "green room" aka a cedar tree, and had a fun hike down to the lake,
 
then had a great time seeing the buffleheads and mallards, making troughs between the puddles, making an adorable home for baby beavers (upper left) out of alder catkins, and even rescuing a flyaway hat!
Tuesday Frogs:
 We took a longer route down to the lake through the woods, had fun making flower chains on our way, and climbing madronas,
The kids had a great time continuing those troughs and connecting the large puddles in the entirely different beach area that the lake now has,
Oh and there was some terrific running over the shallow water, just like a basilisk lizard!
Wednesday Froglets
We had some very silly playground time in the wet weather, and had a really fun time by the lake, then hunkered down under a cedar for story and snack time,
We noticed all sorts of new spring growth starting to emerge, like the horsetails by the creeks, and had some silly time on the stage, ran through puddles, and showed our strength even (that's Erin's heavy pack!):
Thursday Tadpoles:
After a good time on the playground we trooped down to the lake,
Playing in the water, feeling and learning about all the different new plants and birds down there, and  enjoying the space together we had fun!
 When we are somewhere new our time always flies by especially fast! We will look forward to visiting this park again in the Spring!

Monday, March 11, 2013

Spring Registration

FYI Spring Info:
Spring registration is 3/21 for residents and 3/23 for non-residents. 
The Spring session will follow the same schedule as the winter, with the exception of the toddler class going back to 2 hours. 
 It will run April 9th -June 20th with a break for the Shoreline Spring Break April 22-26. During that week we'll have a little spring break camp Mon-Thurs from 9:30-11:30. 
If you know of interested folks for the Tuesday or Thursday classes (Wednesday is super popular!) let them know we have space for visitors this week and next. 
Thanks and Happy Almost Spring! 

Friday, March 8, 2013

Owl Week

We had a whoo filled week in the woods! We studied owls, their pellets, read some cute stories, made nests, crafted owl puppets, sang some made up owl songs and of course had lots of pretend time in the woods!
Tuesday Froglets:
The kiddos were really into imaginary play today. They also built a giant nest, started making daisy chains!, and made little owl puppets:
They also worked on their machine, wrote on "tablets" with their "pencils", opened a drive through cafe, a loved running down mountain trail!
 Tuesday Frogs:
I set up 3 stations for these students. They did an owl pellet dissection (actually fake owl pellets so they each had a guaranteed skeleton), paper owl puppets, and tube owl puppets:
 They also explored, went on a good hike, were very attentive to my big pile of owl books, found some beetles waking up for spring, smooshed in the mud, and built a good pine needle fort with "stabilizers":
 Wednesday Froglets:
We passed around the "bones" from an owl pellet and ooed over how tiny they were, and then proceeded to find a real skeleton after investigating under some logs with a dead bird nearby:
Ahh, the wonderful part about being a preschooler is no squeamishness in their investigation of a dead bird, and with guidance they are safe and careful
They also worked well on teamwork today, going together up trails, holding hands, opening up a restaurant together (serving Teacher Erin some bracken fern yummies below), and comforting each other when needed too!
 Thursday Tadpoles:
Yowza, I flaked on the pictures this week! Not that you kiddos aren't adorable, I think it was the bit of rain in the way of good shots and lots of action! We also made little puppets with adult help, took a good walk around the woods, and enjoyed owl stories during snack time!
We'll take our bird and owl knowledge to Shoreview Park next week!