Thursday, April 12, 2012

Signs of Spring Thurs Pre

This Thursday we had a fun time searching for signs of spring all over the park, and the kids came up with a great list! The class started today at the creek, then onto the mud where I heard, "Pigs would like this mud! Pigs would LOVE this mud!" ~ T.
 
Then we searched for signs of spring all around Owl Valley,
 and sang, danced, snacked and read together too of course.
 
 A bracken fern unfurling
 M noticing the steam that was rising from the log
Then we were off again.
In Fairy Valley we stopped again to do some journal writing about spring:
 Here is the list we made today:
Signs of Spring
Mud!
Boots
Caterpillars
Huckleberries blooming
Worms
Slugs
Singing birds
Frogs
Bracken fern
Sword fern
Sun!

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Froggy Holler at Kruckeberg!

This Spring and Summer Teacher Erin gets to teach at the Kruckeberg Garden in Shoreline! In addition to the wonderful Garden Tots program offered there on Friday mornings, there will be a Froggy Holler Garden Explorers drop off program on Friday afternoons from 1-2pm May 18th to June 22nd. I'm also running a Fairy Camp there in the summer, which I am SO excited for! Check out the website for more info and to sign up!

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Signs of Spring K

This week at our FH K class we were busy! On Tuesday we started off at the creek (which was nearly all dried up!), then it was on up Mt. Trail where we discussed erosion.
Next we passed by the planting site where we chose our favorite plants. Then there was a little "chocolate factory" play and fort building time.
There the kids also made some "Forest Save Stew" which I was told, "Has magic that every now and then would get you another life!" Yeah, I'll take a bite kids! They kept adding to their soup with cinnamon and spices, and noodles when it was raining snow noodles in the fort (aka needles). We went from there to boat fort, where G drove the boat, and also started some new journal writing and drawing. Add in a little log balancing and a quick run back to the shelter and our day was complete!
 On Thursday we continued to add to our signs of spring list while first visiting the creek (wet again!) 
 
and tromping through the mud to Owl Valley. There they played dinos, and then the 3 little pigs in their "brick" house made of sticks. 
To end our day most of the kids did their journal writing and drawing about spring back at the shelter. This spring session this active group will certainly have fun together!
Signs of Spring
Sun
Baseball
Flowers growing
Baby centipede
Weeds growing
Caterpillar holes in leaves
New sword ferns
Baby english ivy

Signs of Spring, Tues Pre

This first session of the spring was delightful! The kids were full of creative energy and did a great job finding signs of spring!
 We trekked today from the creek (it was dry oh my!), then on up Mt Trail and to the Kitchen. There the kids made "Magic Frog Stew":

Then we made it over to Fairy Valley where we added to little fairy homes, sat on nests and up on stump chairs, and danced and sang together with scarves. 
The new cuties of FH:


Here is the list of Signs of Spring they created:
Baseball!
kids on the playground
birds on trees
baby centipede
bright green leaves
birds singing
bracken ferns unfurling
We'll keep looking for signs of spring this session as more begin to unfurl!

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Boeing Creek in the RAIN! Thurs Pre

 Yowza did it RAIN today! The downpour that hit while we were at Beoing Creek this session was downright TORRENTIAL! It was pretty amazing to be at the park seeing the high flow at the creek and exploring a new environment changed by the rain. We hunkered down, read, and snacked when it was really dumping and then explored around afterwards. There was requisite log balancing of course,
 
 And LOTS of puddle stomping!
These kiddos are such troopers!
 
And we had to hug the Grandpa Fir on the way up the trail:
It was an exciting morning and I certainly won't ever forget it!

Thursday, March 1, 2012

Owl Week for K

We started off at the creek this Tuesday, checking to see how the rain had affected the spot. Here are the boys fishing for salmon in the "east creek":
 There was also some fun jumping action that was getting everyone giggly:
 
 
 Fishing is pretty funny business sometimes.
We decided it was a good day for some fort building too, which we did over on the side of "owl valley". We stayed there to read and chart the animals owls do and don't eat.
 On Thursday we started off making owl puppets:
 Then we flew off into the woods, heading right for blackberry meadow on this sunny day. There we snacked, giggled, journalled, and listened to The Lorax, as both Dr. Seuss' birthday and the movie opening were the next day. These kids are such wonderful listeners, and this story is quite appropriate for this group of caring kids who can appreciate the message.
 I saw something recently about dangerous things you should let your kids do, and one was "spear throwing". Froggy Holler is the perfect place for this activity, since a kid can stand one at a time atop most any hill in the woods and throw a stick down without any danger of hurting anyone. The thought is that learning to throw something like a spear, "stimulates the frontal lobe of the brain, hones concentration, and increases visualization skills."(Gever Tulley)
So we've named another spot in these woods, "Spear Hill":
 You should have seen the look on the faces of the high school kids that ran past as I said, "Now hold your spear back like this..." Miss. I worked a bit of throwing, but also on balancing and being our captain atop this outpost:
 Then they were off down "speedy hill" at top speed, which is also a good chance for them to hone the physical spacial sense they need to understand their own power:
 At the bottom of the hill we slowed down to search under logs for beetles, centipedes and such. This ground beetle had what looked like tiny babies on her belly. Might not have been an owl, but still quite interesting!

Owls, Thurs Pre

On owl day we were busy owlets! First off we had to check out Froggy Creek to see how the rain/snow had impacted the area. Sure enough the little creek was running, and a great spot for these little owls to fish, and explore the waters.
 Then it was off into the mud for us.
 It was such lovely, oooey, gooey mud!
 While in the "swamp" we saw a little hummingbird, we may not have seen an owl on owl day, but we were happy to see a sweet hummingbird! 
From the mud we went to "owl valley" where we snacked, read an owl story while charting the animals owls do and don't eat. This was a good chance for the kids to practice letter sounds as they helped me spell out the words we wrote on our chart. Then we were off again, charging right up the big stairs, up and down hills, and onto balancing log,
 
 Miss. J was showing off her ballet moves on the log.
We found this florescent fungus at the end of the log:
 Then we had a blast on speedy hill, running down, rolling down, and pretty much giggling our faces off the whole time!