Water Cycle Week, Tues Pre

We took our first "field trip" of the year this week and met at Richmond Beach to learn about the Water Cycle. 

 On our way to the beach we had to experience the thrill of standing right above a freight train rushing by!

What a great place to do it, we could see the clouds, see the water, make the connections with it all right in front of us. 

exploring in tide pools, we had fun checking out the anemones 

The kids were a little chilly so we did cozy up in a big fort on the beach, 

 

sitting by the "fire", and taking "naps" on the logs

in between snack eating and listening to more water cycle stories. The kids did have a fun time searching for little crab on the beach and learning to identify between males and females. We also found tons of isopods (which reminded us of all the sow bugs we found in the woods!), and sea anemones, barnacles, 

mussels, periwinkles, and other little creatures common to our local tide pools.

 

we had a little chat about this moonsnail's egg case

The sun came out for us at the end of our session and we enjoyed walking down the beach a bit and back again, studying rocks, and gathering up a few to bring home as gifts (we loved "volcano" rocks, and "wishing rocks" especially). As always, it was a hopping good time at Froggy Holler at the beach!

Under a Log Week, K

Bug week is always lots f fun, and these guys got into it, unearthing a whole collection of specimens,

Q was particularly interested in finding as many different types of insects and non insects as we could for our big list.

We often see this particular type of very large ground beetle here in Hamlin, we just need a entomologist to help us name it! (Patty T. my on hand expert informed me it's a ground beetle, while the smaller black ones we see are bark beetles, thanks Patty!)

 It's fun to get the chance to really look closely at these tiny little insect worlds under the logs of Hamlin:

 This week also featured a mini fun lesson on how Teacher Erin's camera works! They each got a turn taking a few pictures,

 We had some fun listening to our "Bug Week" soundtrack on the ipod this week, and played a really fun game of insect hide and seek. Partners would have matching instruments, would hide a short distance from each other and use their instrument noises to find each other, just as insects might do.

 It turns out the harmonicas were the choice instrument of the day, and really sound very insect like, especially when muted under salal plants etc.

We have been wanting to go to this bigger fort, and made it there on Thursday. There the kids worked together to add more walls, and we did our journals, and crafted there as well.

 

 These 4 are busy, imaginative, and fun to be with in the woods!

Under a Log Week, Thurs Pre

The Froglets were set for their work of finding insects at Hamlin this week, look they were geared up and everything:

Serious Mr. T. in his FH uniform!

They were indeed finding lots of insects and non insects together:

 Heaps of beetles under this log, and later this little fella we couldn't actually identify:

 hard to see but it was a pale beetle like insect, right in the middle of this shot

We made it to a fort today, cleaned it up, and then used it as a work station to do our journals:

 Then we crafted some of our own insects with pipe cleaners, sticks, fir cones, etc. They were cute little creations and they helped us discuss the characteristics of an insect: 6 legs, usually with wings, 3 parts to their bodies, etc. Nancy Stewart's "The Gift" insect song we listened to helped also!

 Miss. L meanwhile was getting right into nature here at FH with a taste of this doug fir stump, yum, nature!

silly girl stumps are for bugs! ;)

Under a Log Week, With a Surprise! Tues Pre

The kids loved putting on their "entomologist gear" (the invisible kind ;)) and studying all about insects and non insects in our woods this week! We didn't get far before we found logs to roll over and all sorts of little creatures to study.

Mr. H here was particularly good at finding invisible insects, here he is showing me one!

 

Parent and youngster centipedes (in the non insect category)

 

Slug (another for the non insect list) and "Dog Vomit Fungus" (slime mold):

 

We made a list of all the insects and non insects we found, it was fun to keep track!

But we couldn't just play entomologists all day, we also had to practice balancing:

 

Mr. H really needed to, all the way to the very end of the log while we watched on:

and then we snacked at blackberry meadow, on blackberries and our own snacks while reading All about Bugs, and Mimi:

But the highlight of the day, not bug related at all, was when an OWL flew right in front of us to land on this tree right above us as we were almost back to the shelter! 

 

This barred owl was just staring us down, and looking all about as we watched and watched. I didn't dare move the group for a few solid minutes, and then we ran to get parents to come see too!

It was pretty amazing to see this amazing creature so close up, and it was certainly a highlight for Teacher Erin as well. What a wonderful session!

Frog Week for Thurs Preschool/Tots

We had a fun time all together for our first Preschool/Tot class on Thursday. Since some of the kids were new to drop off a few parents stayed the whole session, and as this was originally a Parent/Tot class L and her Mom will always be together! We started class with our songs and frog crown making, and trooped off into the woods at frog princes and princesses. After a stop in "Fairy Valley", and a reading of A Frog in the Bog, and journal making, we headed on up the hill, for some balancing time:

 

Then it was on down to "Blackberry Meadow" for a berry snack,

 

We did a little journal writing there and had fun hanging out with each other,

Then it was back down the trail with a stop at "Sliding Rock" for some play action:

 

This is a lovely group of students (and parents!) I'll look forward to our fun together this fall!

Frog Week for Kindergarten!

Froggy Holler's Outdoor Kindergarten is kicking off this inaugural year with some experts in the field, and a new friend too! The kids all get along really well together and we all already having way more fun than we should be allowed! ;) For Frog week we had fun with Teacher Erin's frog soundtrack, jumping all around to Caspar Babypants and the like, and reading some stories like Stick, a short story of why frogs and snakes are not friends, and a math story If you Hopped Like a Frog. Story time seems to be the best opportunity to give the kiddos a teaching lesson as they have had morning school already, and need some fun creative and imaginative playtime, which of course they get a wonderful dose of here! I got a new set for the life cycle of a frog and we played a sorting game with it:

On Tuesday we had a lot of fun at "Blackberry Meadow" finding hideouts in the tall scotchbroom, and picking lots of blackberries to snack on too of course:

While there a little baby ladybug kept us company,

We'll be doing some great nature journalling this year too I'm sure:

On Thursday we started off at "The Maple Pancake Factory" where the FH team cooked up some tasty creations,

 K learned all about this new to him spot in the woods, here he is with his first "Maple pancake"!:

My favorite moment from that playtime was when A added a handful of "maple syrup" powder to the pancake machine and called out, "This has to go into the incubator!" Q and I cracked up at that!

Then, we were off into the woods, Q grabbed an umbrella since it was drizzling just a hint,

We found the motherload of "power beads" today,

 

I have a feeling I may have to travel that direction again by request. 

 The kids find the funniest "forts" sometimes, this one was a fallen tree with some pretty dried out branches, and we did our journalling from there.

Then  the class ran and ran (and slid, and pulled each other as if on sleds with sticks) down the hill to sliding rock,

 

These 4 are experts in the field work play already!

Frog Week at FH Tues Preschool

Yay! Our Froggy Holler Outdoor Preschool class bagan this week with 6 excited kiddos and 1 hoppy teacher all ready to learn in the woods! We started off with the traditional "Frog Day" to warm us all up for some froggy fun this fall. First off we sang our welcome songs, chatted about our basic rules, made our froggy hats:

 

 Then we took off into the woods, stopping to talk about decomposing logs, oregon grape, pine vs. hemlock cones, and cedar trees a bit. 

We took our break in "Fairy Valley" to make our nature journals, and have story and snack time. We read A Frog in the Bog today and the class was all eyes during this dramatic tale! 

The students modelled their strong muscles for me today, 

demonstrated their balancing skills, 

and were inquisitive about shelf fungus, and insects wings we found about. They are all so excited to be here and have oh SO many stories to share with Teacher Erin, who loves to hear them all! What fun these froglets and I will have this fall!