Boeing Creek in Winter

We had a fun trip to Boeing Creek this week. Due to illness in our family we had to reschedule class and doing that allowed us to invite a few older boys (it was a Shoreline Schools in service day). It was a great chance for Teacher Erin to practice having a larger group of mixed ages (as summer camp will be).

We set off pretty quickly for Hidden Lake along the creek trail. The kids had fun exploring the creek on the way there, imagining salmon swimming along (somewhat sadly, cause there certainly aren't), and keeping an eye and ear out for different birds we were looking to spot for our NW bird scavenger hunt. So, at the lake Alexander was quick to spot the mallards:

We also saw what I think were bufflehead ducks in the distance, and many other common local birds. We enjoyed our snacks and book time here by the lake.

But of course just being near mud and water made these boys happy.

J said, he could stay right there in the mud all day:

Exploring the banks:

Watching leaves and stick flow over the waterfall:

Cruising across fallen trees to get to another side of the creek:

Doing an excellent job of counting small mushrooms on the log, he got to 19!

Playing "Indiana Jones" on the sandy banks of the creek:

There was some serious laughter going on there, from these two boys in particular:

On our walk back up the hill, they all gave this behemoth Douglas fir a big Froggy Holler hug!

 

It's certainly fun to check out the same park at different seasons, so we'll be back here in spring as well!

NW Winter Birds

We got to use a special birding kit from the Seattle Audubon Society today to enrich our topic on Northwest native winter birds. It was filled with interesting things like nests,

 

images of birds and their habitats, bird books, and even birds! We got to look closely at 4 different preserved birds, the European Starling,

 

the American Robin, the Northern Flicker,

 

and a tiny pine siskin.

We then set off into the woods a bit with our binoculars on hand to keep our eye out for some feathered friends. It turned out to be a better day for puddle stomping however with some pretty steady rain coming down. So we investigated and played in the water,

dug and poked with sticks,

and Miss. I had fun leading A over and around the stream over and over, giving him tips all the while, until he was all tired out.

 

Then at the end of the session she led us back to the shelter with "O's" that everyone later joined her in making. 

 

We'll look forward to more bird searching later this winter and spring!

Coniferous Trees

We started class with an intro to the topic, coniferous trees and some storytelling of the tale of how hemlock got it's small cones, and the mission to find cones of all kinds during our time today.

 

Then the kids dove right into some rowdy hill sliding! 

 

The kids found this spot and in their padded cozy gear slid down it with gusto over and over. They were so happy being one with the dirt it was hard to stop them, but of course more was to be learned so we moved on up the hill. After another oral tale of the mouse in the fir cone (a repeat reminder from the fall session), we settled down under nature's umbrella tree (western red cedar) for snack and another story. 

Then they were off again this time on an adventure in this ship/boat:

 There was driving of their craft, storytelling about where they were going and what they were doing, and some cooking of nutritious maple leaf pancakes, salal leaf cakes, and madron leaf cakes etc.

"Your order is ready!"

There was some sleeping in the tree as well, a lot of hard work all this play.

Then we had to get off our ship and head to our umbrella again, where the kids worked hard altogether gathering food supplies again, some braken fern noodles,

 

many fish caught on handy branch fishing poles,

and an entire stockpile of cones! 

though really A was gathering these for his mom, fyi

It was hard to leave our feast behind, but somehow we managed for the siren call of the hot chocolate was strong!

Twin Ponds Field Trip

It was a bright, sunny winter day, ideal for a FH filed trip! We went to Twin Ponds today and had a great time exploring. After a good test of the playground eqipment, rain pants + slides = heaps of fun! We went over to the ponds to check out the scene:

While snacking we enjoyed watching mallards, cormorants, and other local birds who visit this spot.

 As we continued on around the ponds we stopped to explore the banks frequently, and to fish too of course.

And to stop for a rest:

Then we were off again, this time it was to, "Come on guys, hup 2, 3, 4!"

Then, after our fun trip some kiddos were so tired out they had to nap in the swings:

Silly kids!

Animals in Winter/Baby Dinosaurs in the Woods

Today was one of those lovely days outside, grey and wet, we haven't actually had very many like that this session yet, but you'd have never guessed it was anything but sunny in the world of 4 little Froggy Holler students. While today's topic was "Animals in Winter" and "Hibernation" in particular, we spent just as much time in "The Dinosaur Age!" I read my books, shared poems and such, and the kids really clued into the seasons of the year that are associated with hibernation as learned from our seasons talk a few weeks back. But as we climbed, "a mountain" on our way to the big fort Q came across a rock which he identified as an oviraptor egg, which he promptly sat on. 

He then suggested we were in charge of protecting it and brought it along to the fort. There it was sat on again, and then left aside as we played, snacked, and went back to reading books on animals in winter. 

Then there was some super Ivy instructional lessons on flying,

followed by some keeping hands warm techniques while walking. 

Then we were off on more adventures in the dinosaur age on our way to sliding rock. There we found a wet rock and rain pants make the rock even more fun, 

 

Q then led the group in a new dino game of making a nest for a baby triceratops. The whole group really worked at this together gathering fir branches and some remains of maple leaves (we noted how they are really falling apart and all brown now). 

As we all hunkered down in the finished nest A stood guard for us (he was a roaring tiger, then a T rex). While he was out there he noticed the "smoke" from his breath, so we got to talk all about evaporation!

 

And before you know it it was time to head back to the shelter. It wasn't your average journey back though, more of an adventure itself as we were all in a herd of triceratops with our horns pointed down to aim at the mean dinosaurs. Miss. I. held tight to our tiny baby dinosaur the whole way! Back at the shelter we were in the present again and worked on our journals, and animals tracks page. 

What an exciting day!