Earth Heroes Spring Break Camp!

Oh my goodness what a delightful, sun filled, super hero fun, and exciting week we had! Since Shoreline schools were on a Spring break we took the time to create a spring break mini camp for kiddos. It was SO MUCH FUN! The weather was absolutely ideal, the kids were so creative and into the theme, and we had a hard time leaving the woods each day we were having so much fun! 

Here's a little of what our week was like!

Monday: 

 The kids made nature power wristbands (duct tape! ;), did some earth hero under log investigations, balancing skill building, ship driving, racing around with their earth hero capes, the earth hero cheer,

 We gave everyone their own face painting, here are some of them:

 We posed like super heroes:

 We found earth friends, slid, explored new areas, and raced back to the playground, all in the first day!

 Tuesday:

 We made Earth signs with nature elements, blew dandelion puffs,laughed together,

crafted some tree treats, made our own min campfires, lounged after snack, and played so hard!

 Wednesday:

We had fun in the circle fort, were helpful to our friends on the steep trails, got really into our super hero missions together, named a new trail on the west side of the park the "Lorax Trail", sat in the sun on mossy logs,

 

and kept noticing those signs of spring all around, found giant dinosaur claws in dino valley, and had fun (and got very quiet) watching a pair of pileated woodpeckers.

Then we had our snack/story in the boat fort and each kiddo got some green and blue playdough I made so they could make their own earth. They've got the whole earth in their hands!

Thursday:

We got special earth heroes treasure bags for our nature hunt, which led us finally to our fairy treasure in fairy valley! We also had fun exploring all the way to the north of Owl Valley, had story time (as we did each day), and played with our new little animal treasures:

With so much time to explore the woods together, little critters to find everyday, logs to climb, flowers to pick, an adventure to be had at every turn, it was a really great week to be an Earth Hero!

 

Hooray for a successful first Earth Heroes Camp!

Celebrating Our Earth!

This week we learned all about our Earth! We talked about the globe, where we live, how we can help our environment, and had fun painting our own Earths!

Tuesday Froglets:

The kids did a lovely job with their earth paintings, 

had a blast at spear hill, exploring and building together,

enjoying the sun in blackberry meadow, beetle hunting, log balancing, and generally not wanting to leave the woods at all!

Tuesday Frogs:

It was nice to start class with some chill painting time, then head off together with this funny group!

They also wanted some spear hill action, look at that form they are developing!

Wednesday Froglets:

These clever kiddos took artistic liberties making fairies, and all sorts of colorful earths,

they had a fun time on this rocket, making a stew to keep away zombies, and on a submarine too! This group is bursting with creativity!

Thursday Tadpoles: 

This cuties had a fun dance party, turned their scarves into flags and peekaboo toys,

they cooked in the kitchen, played in the fairy houses, jumped over logs together, and of course got a little playground fun at the end!

 

Here they are taking turns on the stump ride/motorcycle:

It was certainly a creative, adventurous, earth appreciating, and FUN week!

Signs of Spring ~ Spring Opening!

We started a whole new season of FH this week with lots of new students! It was certainly fun to get to know a whole new set of kiddos and see everyone after our break. We focused on looking for signs of spring this week and found all sorts of them! 

Tuesday Froglets:

Here is what teasing a bunch of preschoolers looks like (upper left ;)), finding Oregon grape blooming, a larvae in hand, and witches butter:

 There were rides at FH today too, the giant dirt slide, the king of the hill roller coaster, the hole in the tree, and magnifier station:

 Tuesday Frogs:

 We were ready to learn in the woods today! 

Here are pics of how not to run off in the woods (Mr. P was hilarious demonstrating this!), finding power beads again (white = power of mind), tiny yellow flowers, and Oregon grape:

 Here we are feeling new huckleberries, sliding on sliding rock, checking out witches butter, investigating the very fed roots of a Western Red Cedar, building fairy houses, and running down the trail:

Today most of all many of the kiddos were into "camouflage" play, it was pretty cute and I couldn't seem to find them anywhere over and over!

Wednesday Froglets:

We had fun in the circle fort, making a fence outside of it, playing house, and finding dino bones all around it!

Here we are finding long sticks to carry, studying "witches butter slime mold", and feeling a new huckleberry:

 And watching an active pileated woodpecker, pointing out blooming Oregon grape, running into dinosaur valley (those dinos were busy this week making huge footprints in the mud!), and

stomping in puddles:

 Thursday Tadpoles: 

Here is the close inspection of a new backen fern, a good look at the shelf fungus,fort playtime, and a  ride on a big "horse":

 

Oh and some fun times in the puddles at the end of class!

 It was wonderful to start of the spring with you all, looking forward to the coming weeks and our adventures together!

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!

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!

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!