With the early flowers blooming, the bees buzzing, and the return of the sunshine, we had a fantastic week of learning and exploring! We started the week off on Tuesday with learning about the life cycle of a frog. Each child created their own life cycle with a cut and paste exercise, followed by a wander in the swamp to find the frog’s life cycle in real time. We found a cluster of eggs while we explored!
Wednesday the fun continued with making our own fishing poles! With sticks we found and some paracord, each child created their own fishing pole! After that we took our poles on a wander over to a vernal pool across the street. As part of learning about how special important vernal pools are, we checked out the lifecycles present in one! We were in for a treat—frog eggs that were hatching as we arrived!! We saw so many little tadpoles! While we were observing, we heard the sweet sounds of tree frogs. Though we couldn’t find them, it was fun to hear them. While exploring, the children found a hill and decided to take the opportunity to play on it. Running up and down it, rolling and somersaulting down the hill was a blast!
Thursday started off with a refreshing quiet drizzle. As both the Woolly Bears and Roly Polys arrived joyously, they all ran off in many directions greeting one another. With River Otter planting Ostrich Ferns off in the back of Big Field, some children joined in the planting. Making our way to camp for snack and free time, White Pine found a deceased falcon in the woods just beyond the Woolly Bear site.
The children were ecstatic to see the bird’s wingspan, talons, and pointy beak! Later we split into two groups, the older children worked on their fire starting skills with White Pine, and the younger children went with Foxfire to paint rocks to form around the entryway around the outhouse. With plenty of giggles, the children kept saying “We’re beautifying our community” with great pride!
—Jodi and the Woolly Bears team
April 28, 2023