Thursday Tadpoles, Week 3. How do animals keep warm in winter?

My objective with the toddler group was to help them understand that animals use body fat as a way to stay warm in the winter.  As winter approaches, many animals eat all they can in order to grow a thick layer of fat to store food and stay warm.  

Tadpole scientists are testing this theory by coating a finger in vegetable shortening and submerging it in ice water.  The water was very cold with bare fingers, but with a layer of fat?  Our finger stayed warm!  Wow!

In a similar way, we can wear warm coats to stay warm.  We learned a song about zipping up our jackets and sang it as we hiked.

Oh look, "there's a fungus among us among us among us.."  How beautiful!

We hiked all the way to Fairy Valley and had a snack to energize ourselves.  We also read Blueberries for Sal, by Robert McCloskey and Here comes Jack Frost by Kazuno Kohara.  

Finally, we hiked over to sliding rock for some slippy fun and found a great fallen log to sit on.  

See you next week!

Teacher Kathleen

Tuesday Froglets, Week 3. How do animals stay warm in the winter?

Tuesday Froglets conducted an experiment to learn about animals staying warm.  We know that animals have "fur coats" or feathers to stay warm.  We also know that they can go in a shelter to stay warm and dry.  We talked about body fat and how many animals eat and eat before winter to fatten up.  This body fat acts as a blanket to insulate them.  

We tried it our with ice water and vegetable shortening.

Here we are our "vegetable shortening of science" and our surprise visit from a still pregnant Teacher Erin.

Our fingers were cold in the ice water, but not after we smeared them with vegetable shortening.  Hmmmm...

We decided to look throughout the woods for bears, foxes, wolves and any other creatures that might be hanging out in the forest.  

But all we found was evidence of Patriots...

M finds the funnest way to go down a hill

A finds the tiniest baby slug

See you next week!!

Thursday Tadpoles, Week 2. We Need Shelter!

The Tadpoles searched Hamlin Park for evidence of shelters today.  Squirrels, raccoons, woodpeckers, coyotes, all kinds of creatures live in our forest!  We were lucky enough to hear the warning call of a Douglas Squirrel and even saw it run away!  

Our flashlights came in very handy!

Anyone in there??

K finds a hollow stump to examine!

See you next week, scientists!

Teacher Kathleen

Wednesday Froglets, We Need Shelter!

Today was a sunny and (almost) warm day in the woods.  The Froglets searched for shelters all over Hamlin Park, shining flashlights in hollow logs and exploring fallen trees.

We hiked all over, finally settling in Fairy Valley for a snack and a story.  After reading "Where would you be in an evergreen tree?" by Jennifer Blomgren, we set out to create shelters of our own.

Some were big enough for us to climb inside...

Some were small, but had a lot of places for creatures to climb on...

We also found skeleton leaves-or did a fairy shed it's wings?  Oh My!

See you next week!

Animals in Winter

Hello there!  We were all so busy during Froggy Holler this week, romping in the woods, checking out animal activity and wondering where all the bugs went.

Our Tuesday Froglets had a great time with their new flashlights, shining them in every hollow, nook and cranny in the forest!  We climbed on some recently sawed logs, explored Owl Valley and slid down hills on our backsides!

Our Wednesday Froglets tried hard to listen to the quiet of the forest, but couldn't hear anything except very noisy crows!  There must've been an owl nearby to cause such a disturbance, but we couldn't find one.  Good job hiding, owl friends!  We found an amazing fort by sliding rock and climbed all over a fallen tree.

Our Thursday Tadpoles had a lucky surprise, Teacher Erin came to walk with us!  We found mushrooms, moss and mysterious holes in the logs.  

Week 2, Tuesday Froglets. We Need Shelter!

Today, the Froglets spend most of their time looking for "evidence of shelters".  We found bug shelters under logs, animal burrows in the hollow under a tree and a very spooky spider home in a hollow log!

Our flashlights are great fun, so many things to explore with them!  

Welcome to Froggy Holler Winter Session!

Welcome to Froggy Holler!

Hello to all of our friends, old and new.  I am so excited to get out in the woods and play with you!

We will meet at Hamlin Park in Shoreline all week, which is at 16006 15th Avenue NE, Shoreline, WA 98155

We meet at the second parking lot you will come to, at the shelter by the playground. We will begin and end each session at the shelter, and I like to encourage kids not to head straight to the playgrounds during class time (though before is fine if you are early!).

Dress for outside play!  There is no bad weather, just inappropriate clothing.  At Froggy Holler, we get wet, dirty and stay outside no matter what the weather.  You will be much happier if you layer your outfit, wear rainproof clothes and waterproof shoes or boots.  I highly recommend rain pants, both for rain and sliding down hills.  Snow suits are also a great idea for winter, as long as it isn't too warm out.  Don't forget hats and gloves!

Pack a snack and a drink!  Kids are playing hard and get hungry in our class.  Please pack just enough for your child, due to allergies, we don't share snacks.  I also ask that you don't send your child with any nuts, peanut butter or trailmixes with nuts.  After the first week, I will know about any allergies in each class.  For now, its best to stay on the safe side.

A backpack!  Kids all carry their own gear, so a comfortable snack will help everyone feel better.  What should you pack?

A snack and water
Extra clothing or layers
A hat and gloves
Extra socks
Kleenex or handkerchief

Most important, here are the three rules of Froggy Holler.

Be Safe!
Be Respectful!
Have FUN!

We will go over the rules on the first day as well as practice the Froggy Holler call.  We practice this a lot in the beginning, but please remind your child that it is very important to stay with Teacher Kathleen during class!

Thank you so much for your support of outdoor education!   I'll see you in the woods!

Kathleen Fleming

Froggy Holler phone:  206-735-6171
 

Welcome to Winter with Froggy Holler!

I'd like to introduce myself to all our new families.  My name is Kathleen and I have been assisting with Froggy Holler for a year.  I will be leading the classes for our Winter session while Teacher Erin is on maternity leave.  I'm very excited to meet our new Froggies and have fun in the woods!

I've worked with young children for many years both as a preschool teacher, nanny and Roots of Empathy instructor.  I am currently a full time student and will graduate with a degree in Early Childhood Education in June 2015.  I am also the mother of three children (13, 11 and 9) an avid hiker, nature lover and bird watcher. Froggy Holler has provided me with a wonderful opportunity to combine my interests and talents and I look forward to getting to know all of you!