first Forest Friend Friday

Our first Forest Friend Friday with Kindergarten classes was a great success! The weather sure helped: a beautiful 20 degree day! Turtles were basking, sun was shining.

For this 2-hour Kindergarten program, our theme is "Home Sweet Home." We spend half of our time walking the paths through the forest and by the pond. It's a time to be scientists, detectives, and naturalists, looking for clues. We talk about who makes their home at Huron Natural Area: what creatures, plants, trees. 

Before entering the forest, some said, "I'm scared!" or "Oooohh!! Spooookyyyy! The forrreesstt!!" so we talked about how the forest is a home for many animals - not a scary, spooky place - but a place filled with lots of exciting life. We brainstormed animals who live in our forest, and came up with long list: beavers, spiders, birds, squirrels, pandas, snow leopards, raccoons, coyotes, geese, monkeys, tigers, bears, deer, turtles, frogs, ants. We talked about how our forest isn't the same as a tropical rainforest or the African savannah, so there would be some things on our brainstormed list that don't fit the climate and ecosystems that we have here in Canada. 

​We make time for a short "sit spot", where we sit quietly in the woods for 1 whole minute to listen and watch things around us. It's amazing what we can hear and see when we're quiet!

The other half of our time is spent in the new playscape area. It's a time to be builders, designers, movers and shakers. It's a time to pretend to be animals who make their homes in the woods - digging, climbing, building. And a time to play!

We're looking forward to hosting more Kindergarten groups over the coming weeks!