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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!
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April 2020
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We love this land where we play and learn: the sun that warms us, the trees that give us shade, beauty and places to climb. The plants that give us food. The creatures who teach us about how to live in a good way. Thank you to the bugs and turtles, the great blue herons and the tadpoles. To the fairy shrimp, the tree swallows, the pond snails, the newts. To the Jack-in-the-pulpits, the trout lilies, the goldenrod, the asters - all of you are so beautiful and teach us so much. To the water, which is life - the ponds, creeks and the Grand River watershed.
We are honoured to walk, learn, and play on the traditional territories of the Haudenosaunee, Anishinaabe, and Chonnonton Nations, treaty lands of the Haudenosaunee. Grateful for the ongoing care, stewardship, and teachings from Indigenous Peoples that help us walk gently on this earth. We are committed to the ongoing process of decolonization through partnering with local Indigenous educators in our facilitation, learning about the past and about good ways forward together, and respecting the land as our First Teacher.
We are honoured to walk, learn, and play on the traditional territories of the Haudenosaunee, Anishinaabe, and Chonnonton Nations, treaty lands of the Haudenosaunee. Grateful for the ongoing care, stewardship, and teachings from Indigenous Peoples that help us walk gently on this earth. We are committed to the ongoing process of decolonization through partnering with local Indigenous educators in our facilitation, learning about the past and about good ways forward together, and respecting the land as our First Teacher.
