Leaf Day!

This week we tracked down the deciduous trees in Hamlin park. No small task I might add, we have loads of evergreen there! 

Tuesday Froglets had a wet and muddy day. There was much puddle stomping and I don't think very many of us left the park with many dry spots on us. 

Wednesday Froglets had a great mix of mud, puddles, and sun!! We chased down the sun and trapped it at Blackberry Meadow! There we made mud tacos, stomped and splashed and observed the owl box. 

Thursday Tadpoles tried to chase down the sun but it was elusive. We ended up at the meadow where we made out own leaf dancer and sang about thunder and lightening while playing under the parachute!

Boeing Creek!

 Excursion to Boeing Creek! It was a rainy week at the creek. The trees were losing their leaves and providing less protection from the falling water than usual. These froggys were tough though. We slogged through mud and water and not one of us melted!

Tuesday Froglets made it to the creek and got quite muddy! They hugged a GIANT grandpa/grandma tree and found many face sized Big Leaf Maple leaves. 

We even found a FAKE snag at the park!! Tricky!!

Wednesday Froglets practiced their patience with friends and posed for GQ. Not sure who got the muddiest but we had some top contenders!

Thursday Tadpoles somehow managed to make it down to the creek even though we had not originally planned to go all the way down there... Sneaky Tadpoles!! On the way back we found a HUGE banana slug!  

Trees!!

Back in the woods for Tree Week! We studied trees from cedar to douglas fir to madrone and learned about the animals that depend on them.

Tuesday Froglets enjoyed the Hobbit Hole a visit to one our Hamin's owl boxes, and a bouncing log! We also found our weight in power beads!! 

Wednesday Froglets searched nurse logs for mushrooms and saplings as well as strengthened friendships and helped new students feel welcome!

Thursday Tadpoles worked hard on the Tiger Trap. Clearing out underneath, adding to the roof and discussing the pros and cons of certain sticks. 

Salmon Day at Richmond Beach!

What a week at the beach!! We lucked out each and every day with fine weather and the best company! 

Tuesday Froglets spent loads of time in the sand. Buried. Digging. Constructing. We launched "boats" in to the surf and even found a live oyster!  

Wednesday Froglets built a fabulous driftwood fort complete with seaweed decoration. A few froglets spent time careening down the sand dune and leaping to their doom at the bottom. Apparently the crash was the best part!

Thursday Tadpoles found a beach fort and converted it in to a restaurant. We could order anything we wished and it was all only 2. 2 rocks as payment? Sweet deal!! 

Insects!!

This week we had Bug Day!! We searched high and mostly low for bugs of all kinds. Mostly insects although we did spy some arachnids! Those spiders made some beautiful webs for us to gaze upon. Under logs we found beetles, potato bugs, worms, millipedes, centipedes, and larvae of indeterminate kind :).

Tuesday Froglets did not get much mud this week. Many of the logs were not too wet and insects still found many dry places to hide from us. We did visit Fairy Valley and work on some housing projects though.

Wednesday Froglets found many puddles to splash in. Muddy Trail is beginning to be waterlogged but will need a few more good rains to be in peak mud condition. No matter, we found ways to get our hands dirty! 

 

Thursday Tadpoles not only found some mud they also enjoyed some launch platforms to practice some jumping, sliding rock to get some slipping and sliding on, and a log everyone could sit upon. Many many insects were found under logs on this day!!

We will continue to search under logs for insects and crawlies all season! There is so much to see!

Welcome to Froggy Holler! Frog Week!

Welcome! And welcome back!! This week we met for our first fall session of 2014 and I am so excited about all the neat people I have the privilege to get to know.  We spent some time getting comfortable with each other and with the woods, exploring, touching, and creating. Frog week was a great start! Let's hop on in to fall!

Tuesday Froglets enjoyed a beautiful summery fall day and found many spiders, a slug, the kitchen, and even a tree with a face. We colored our climbing frogs and tested them out in the woods. 

Wednesday Froglets made use of a natural slide and returned very dusty indeed. White pants were no more and new class shirts were broken in adequately. 

Thursday Tadpoles (or polliwogs!) were the GO GO GO team this week! We covered so much ground!! From spiderman trail to the creek, then to muddy trail, owl valley and even fairy valley. This group must have been tired by the end. 

(Photo courtesy of a parent!)

Time in owl valley was spent having snack and making our climbing frogs! A magical tree stump had many different species to study and the creek even had some water to splash in!

This week is coming fast and Bug Day is upon us! Be ready to turn over some logs and see what crawlies we can find!! See you at Hamlin!

Pirate Day!

The last session of the year, Pirate Day at Richmond Beach! The final class has had their day and we can finally see what each class accomplished this day! Many of us were ready in our pirate garb. A few brave souls came as pirate princesses. All together we were unstoppable!! And those pirates whose treasure we found are sure to be sobbing in their grog right now! Well done all pirates it took problem solving and team work to locate the treasure and I'm so proud of all of you!!

Tuesday Froglets came prepared and we enjoyed beautiful weather and a beach nearly to ourselves. We did have to be cautious of all the arriving landlubbers as the morning wore on. Luckily we kept the treasure and each other quite safe.

Tuesday Frogs had to be extra diligent. There were landlubbers all over the beach! Eventually they dispersed and we were pleased to see that they cleaned up after themselves! Our treasure was a tough dig in rocky sand and took all of us working together to unearth it.  Most of the Frogs are now going on to first grade. We will miss you but can't wait to see what you do in the world!!

Wednesday Froglets really did have the beach to themselves! We chased and were chased by waves. Someone was sure they saw a sea monster and we always kept a sharp eye for pirates coming ashore. There were sand angels, forts, and loads of sharing.

Thursday Tadpoles found the X in record time! We spent time playing in the sand and lazing in the sun. 

Thursday Frogs had to wait a little while for their make up day, but what a day it was!! The low tide had beach naturalists from the aquarium out and our map came from a bottle fished from the sea!! Some of the clues were quite challenging but hard work and working together paid off!

Later there was time for seaweed tag and "falling" in the water until we were soaked. Most of these guys are off to first grade as well. We will miss you and look forward to meeting again!

To all the first graders, you are all amazing people and I know you will be great. Stay confidant and true to yourself and always help your team. I'm proud of all of you.

To all the other froglets and tadpoles, you are all wonderful young people and have made my first year as lead at Froggy Holler memorable and an absolute joy. 

Thank you so much for coming to the woods with me. I hope to see you all soon!!

Teacher Erin

Butterflies and Dragonflies!

This week focused on the least annoying of flies, the butter and the dragon!

 Tuesday Froglets hugged and listened and even took my picture!

 Tuesday Frogs found the most beautiful shelf fungus and half a dragonfly...

Wednesday Froglets worked together and were sure to make everyone feel welcome and needed.

Thursday Tadpoles found a little spot under a tree and created a special area just for them.

Thursday Frogs observed a fearless woodpecker who pecked a tree near us for nearly twenty minutes.

Nature's Rainbow

This week we met a challenge. Find all the colors in the rainbow, in the forest! That means red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink, (white, black, and brown too). I think each class managed to do it. Purple and orange tended to be elusive, lucky for us the honey suckle was blooming! 

Tuesday Froglets played with vigor (as always!) and found all but one color!! Some colors we found many different shades. Other colors only one observant spotter saved us and allowed us to write it down.

Tuesday Frogs had a more sedate day. We sat on the bridge and thought about life. We helped each other out of tough scrapes and up steep hills. There was even some work done in Fairy Valley. Along the way each color was located with scientific precision. Thanks D!

Wednesday Froglets worked together to build an elevator, (I didn't fully understand the engineering behind it but O was adamant about her calculations). D really helped us rid some trees of ivy that was taking over and  C was very protective of a certain rock.

Thursday Tadpoles CLIMBED!! So many tree stumps to clamber upon!! We also found time to make a fire ring and roast all kinds of imaginary food. From good 'ole s'mores, to pear, apple, banana, and a few others. Some I shall have to try next time I go camping!

Thursday Frogs practiced a "run and leap" maneuver at sliding rock. It looked like a parkour kind of fanciness! Each time was more fluid and sometimes they were able to really stick the landing! A beautiful beetle was found and checked off a few colors from the list. It had met with an unfortunate end by the time we found it.

Boeing Creek Excursion

Our second field trip of the session and we land at Boeing Creek for a beautiful week of ducklings, salmon berries, stinging nettle, a grandpa tree over 200 feet tall, and water time!

Tuesday Froglets had quite the adventure fording a creek and floating leaves and sticks like boats. Hugging trees and getting muddy, my kind of day!

Tuesday Frogs made the trek all the way to Hidden Lake and there we found a few families had beaten us to the beach. They were more than willing to share though.  I've found ducks to be quite accommodating.

Wednesday Froglets found a different route and enjoyed a bouncy tree limb, creek access, and lots of balancing. We even were treated to a mountain beaver scurrying across the bank on the opposite side of the creek!

Thursday Tadpoles gorged themselves on salmon berries! We found a beautiful overlook and made the trek down to the very old and very large trees. We learned that the slope was too steep to log. Lucky tree and lucky us!!

Spiders and Insects!

The spiders are emerging!! Spring is calling the insects!! Creatures are molting, weaving, and eating mosquitos! I especially like that last part. 

Tuesday Froglets searched for spiders and insects and discovered new flowering plants, the shapes we can get our faces in to, and new climbing abilities!

Tuesday Frogs found one of the biggest spiders I've seen in Hamlin Park! We found smaller versions all week, but this one. Oh boy! It's a big'un!

Wednesday Froglets went back to a tree that we found a few weeks ago, to see if baby wood peckers were indeed inside. We snuck quietly through the woods, listened ever so silently at the snag and managed to put a good distance between us and their home before going back to our normal decibel level.  I was so impressed at our forest ninja skills!

 Thursday Tadpoles found more of the same kind of spider as we found on Tuesday, not quite as big though! We saw many many creatures under logs. It's been quite a change from the winter! Life teems everywhere!

Thursday Frogs had a major event happen. We decided that we do believe in fairies. They do need decent housing. And we were the perfect engineers to accomplish this task. An elevator was installed as well as multiple level housing. We passed on the excitement to a family passing by who embraced it with gusto!  Somewhere in there we managed to find some spiders and insects as well!!

A Day at the Beach

This week Richmond Beach was our classroom. Not only did we have a VERY low tide, but the weather cooperate with us as well. Each day was sunny and warm and made me feel lucky to be at the beach.  

Tuesday Froglets spent time at the pirate fort, examining rocks, and searching for crabs! Somehow we were able to make the best of our situation. Being at the beach and all. ;)

Tuesday Frogs focused on two specific areas, the fort builders and the tide poolers. We were able to really study the crabs. If nothing else their sheer numbers! Couple scraped knees, first time digging toes in the sand, and we even managed to save a few caterpillars.

Wednesday Froglets tossed rocks in to the water, rolled around and I'm sure put sand 

E-V-E-R-Y-W-H-E-R-E

Made a flag and ran it up the mast, explored the scotch broom, and maybe even found a crab or two!

Thursday Tadpoles found the most wildlife of any class this week. The action was non stop! 

Sea stars, barnacles, crabs, hermit crabs, mussels, clams, long unidentified fish, nudibranchs, sea pens, sea anemones! OH MY!

Thursday Frogs found the source of all the caterpillar action. Tent caterpillars ( I suspect) have infested numerous trees and bushes on the beach. We found a few of the writhing masses on some bushes and many more single caterpillars on the beach.  

All in all a great week at the beach! Even with the mild sun burn I'm happy!