A lot has happened in the last 6 weeks with our Nature Explorers program! Each child has chosen a special "tree friend" (or two or three). We begin each session by spending time with these friends. Some weeks, it is their birthdays, and the trees are offered small gifts. Other days, we sit quietly and listen to and look at what's around us. It's a quiet time where we can relax. Each tree is unique - just like us!! After some games in the meadow, we're off on an adventure in the forest! Here's a favourite place, with a log bridge and a climbing tree. Then it's off to our fort village! A lot has developed over the weeks as we've made that place home: building, protecting wildflowers, working together, climbing, gardening, plant ID. Here we are in week 1: look at the layers of clothing we're wearing! And here we are in weeks 5 and 6: look at all of the green on the forest floor! We've also had the opportunity to watch different plants spring up as the earth bursts with new life: jack-in-the-pulpits, wild ginger, apple blossoms, trilliums, and morel mushrooms!
2 Comments
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!
Reflections on listening to the dawn chorus, International Dawn Chorus Day, May 1, 2016 Voice #1: Grandma JS, farm near Elora, 5:00am, May 2, 2016 It seemed ridiculous to wake up before 5 on a morning free of commitments but it didn't take long before I clued into why I awoke so early - International Dawn Chorus Day, only one day late! I got my winter coat and a blanket and went out to the quasi-deck out back and I sat. At first nothing, save the spring peepers in the swamp and the distant drone of traffic on Wellington 18 and Arthur St north. And then the first peep - a tentative peep, and then perhaps it rolls over for a few more winks of sleep. A raccoon/groundhog/rabbitty thing slinks from the field to the red currant bush - or maybe it is just the floater in my right eye. It's hard to tell in dawn's early morning. A call from the spruce tree on my peripheral left. A call growing more certain with time - perhaps the robin-imam with the first call to prayer. An answer comes back from the driving shed roof. He flies to the washline post and now he calls more loudly, fluffing his wings and stretching his neck high. I can see his shadow in the growing light. A rustling in the mac tree and tentative chirps there - "is-it-morn?, is-it-morn?" Out on the pond the geese are tuning their bagpipes. "Killdeer, Killdeer", a type A killdeer wakes up, already in protective mode. I hear the sound of the chickadee and I imagine her cute little compact body bustling about, doing her Monday chores. The copse of black elder trees awake with a chorus - some reaching tiptoe high notes, some trilling the medium runs, and below it all a percussive beat - is it the bull frogs, or a birdsong I don't know? But my regal cardinal - where is his voice in the chorus? Not to worry, he will be by later. He'll fly in about the same time as Norbert and Nora, the Downys, coming to begin the day of head-banging foraging. Monday morning, surrounded by nature's sounds. Voice #2: Daughter ES, 9 years old, Huron Natural Area, 4:30am This morning I woke up at 4:00 am to the sound of, “It’s time to go!”, ringing through my ears. This was the sound of my mother. Once we stepped into the crisp morning breeze I heard something different. The wind. I heard this wind the whole time we were driving to Huron Natural Area. After we were finally about to start our Dawn Chorus time we heard the magnificent sound of the Spring Peeper frogs. Soon after, we finally settled down right near the pond and leaning against a tree. The perfect spot to hear and see anything that may come our way. First, everything was silent. Then after what felt like the longest time the chickadees started to sing. The sounds started close to us and then moved across the pond. It sounded a lot like an antiphonal choir of chickadees. After them, the ducks and geese moved to the pond, displaying their noises. The crows thought they might join the early morning chorus as well as the red-winged blackbirds. So they did. Then came my favourite sound of all time. “Truffles! Truffles!”, the sounds of the wild turkeys came loud and clear. It was very interesting watching the ducks float on the water so calmly and peacefully. All of a sudden, when we were watching the geese as well as the ducks in the pond, we saw some white objects disappearing and then reappearing again. We thought for a moment, and then realized that the white objects were actually the tail feathers of the geese! They were searching for food underwater! After a while of the bird chorus, we left in the drizzling rain; heading for home. Getting ready to start this new day. Voice #3: Mother RS, Huron Natural Area, 4:30am
Early morning. A steady drizzle as we make our way quietly to the forest. Down a muddy path, through the trees to the side of the pond. I choose a tall and sturdy tree - is it hemlock? - to support me if I doze off. I lay down our mat, sit against the tree. My daughter rests her head on my lap. It's not long before she's sleeping. It's too dark to see, but I know that the other women sit near me in the forest. We're holding vigil together, waiting for the chorus. We are quiet, but we are not alone. There is a deep power in silent togetherness. At first, we hear the sound of the spring peepers, a sweet and steady backdrop of song. The rain falls softly; we can hear drops on the water and on the leaves nearby. There are city sounds in the background too. Something in me reacts - I'm annoyed, and I want those noises to leave. But they are part of this place too. A plane flies overhead. A goose honks, en route. What if the chorus doesn't come? I wonder. What if the rain strains their little vocal chords? Will this be all that I'm expecting? Gradually, I loosen my grip, allowing nature to just be. To not conform to my wishes, to not be controlled. In this pre-dawn light, I see ghostly white shapes out on the water - moving together, then apart, moving up a bit, then down. What is it?? I study this for a while, blinking to make sure I'm not asleep. Then it hits me: geese! Bobbing their heads down for an early morning breakfast. In the dark, my ears are so strong. They are tuned to the slightest peep. I wait, and I listen. And I wonder what will come. My daughter rolls over, wakes up, and listens. At 5:45am, we are rewarded: the clear call of a chickadee from the right side of the pond. And another calls back. And another. Those sweet little bundles, their song so pure and true. The sound moves around the pond, little by little, as they all wake up. The crows start their cawing, building in intensity. Ducks and geese, with timing all of their own, add their quacks and honks intermittently. The funniest one is like a small chuckle, coming from the other side of the pond. A wild turkey! He too marches to the beat of his own drum, making us strain and anticipate his call, smiling and quietly chuckling when we hear him. Eventually, the chorus surrounds the pond, and we are part of it - not as singers, but as appreciative audience - led by these birds to greet the day. Human words sound foreign as I break our silence to read Salutation to the Dawn by Kalidasa. Then we gather up our blankets and walk back through the forest. We have witnessed together an ordinary, daily miracle: the dawn chorus of song. On April 30, we celebrated Earth Day and the grand opening of the new play area at Huron Natural Area. What an amazing afternoon! Beautiful, sunny weather, and lots of people of all ages. It was wonderful! Here's the Kitchener mayor, Berry Vrbanovic, along with city councillor Kelly Galloway-Sealock, cutting the ribbon with a crew of kids to officially open the new playground. Local artist Ean Kools was spray painting our storage shed - so exciting to have a wonderful design on this space! There were so many things going on - like tree planting, and native species seed planting, and a big fire truck dumping water on the new permeable parking lot, and Sarah Granskou leading a felted leaf craft as her artist-in-residence project for the city of Kitchener, snakes and reptiles to see and touch, a live birds of prey show - so many fun things. I was facilitating the evolution of a tent city - made with bamboo and Stick-lets and colourful fabric. Take a look!
Our Polliwog Thursday group has been getting to know each other, and getting to know the forest and pond at Huron Natural Area. In our forest play area, our kitchen play has developed into a bakery. Campfire building is a popular chore for a couple of the children. And for several, marshmallows have played a big role over the past two weeks - this week, developing into marshmallow cookies with chocolate chips. The log cabin is a popular play spot, and this week, an elaborate doorbell-ringing system was rigged up, with wiring running all through the house. We've also met some friendly mice in the woods (pinecones) and we've made slides and amusement parks for them. And we've seen evidence of creatures in the woods and pond: fish, ducks, geese, turtles, slugs, snails, and more. And whose poo is this? Giselle brought in a "feely box" where we could try to guess what nature items were inside. Some were prickly, some were hard, some were light and soft. See you next week, Polliwogs!
Week 2 included 3 hours of rain for our Dive Into Nature program. But they were troopers! On our way past the big pond, we saw the damage that warm weather can do to the sunfish in the pond. Because the weather was so warm on the last weekend, the plant life, algae, and decomposing plant life sucked so much oxygen from the pond that there wasn't enough for all of the fish to survive. This doesn't happen every spring. We talked about how we enjoy when the weather gets warm, but sometimes things in nature can't keep up - like these fish. We walked to our base camp, and were introduced to a "building challenge." In small groups, we made forts, using natural materials from the forest + a tarp + Stick-let connecting pieces. It was great to see the variety of structures and imagine which ones would keep us dry at night (and which ones would be cozy homes for animals)! As we explored and built, we continued to find fungi and small creatures in the woods.
We've had a great 3 weeks in our Dive into Nature program. This group of children is keen to learn about nature, spend time getting to know the woods, and build together using natural materials. On our first week, we went on a long hike out to Sunfish Pond and around the big pond. Before we went, we talked about "journey sticks" - how they have been used in the past as a sort of mapmaking tool to mark memories of places visited and experiences along the way. We each chose a stick, wrapped some yarn on one end, and we were on our way! We found pinecones, fuzzy sumac berries, leaves, pine needles, and turtle egg shells, to name a few things. Some children dipped their journey sticks in Sunfish Pond to remember that place on our journey. In the meadow by Sunfish Pond, we saw an antique vehicle. Some scratched their sticks on the coloured metal to remember that place. It was our first week at our "base camp", so we spent some time making it our own. Working together, building, creating, a fort took shape. We also found a big horse to ride! And a small tree to climb! While we were building, we found different types of fungus on branches and trees nearby. So we started a photo fungus collection! On our way back to the park entrance, we spied some turtles sunning themselves on a log in the big pond.
Our Thistletop Theatre has had two great weeks together. This group has piles of ideas and piles of energy. The production we create, I'm sure, will prove to be very interesting! The first two weeks were spent on character development: seeing what characters we have in the group (quite a few!), and imagining what characters we could have in our play. By the end of week one, we had brainstormed an ambitious list, which included, but was not limited to:
We played charades using different emotion words, and some get to know each other games. Then we went for a hike to the pond. Several turtles were out sunning themselves on a log, so we spent a quiet minute doing a character study of a turtle. We picked spots on our own to sit quietly and watch. Then we talked about words that would describe a turtle. How could we act like turtles? What ideas does this character give us for our play? On week two, we played some more games, then acted out the story The Sunflower Sword by Mark Sperring - a wonderful tale of a fierce dragon transformed by a sunflower-carrying young soldier. Then we looked at nature ID mats that have local flora and fauna on them to try to narrow down our list of potential play characters. They came in handy as we explored the forest! See you next time, dramatic friends!
At the end of week 1, we asked our Polliwog W group, "What would you like to do next week?" One of the children said, "Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf!" And so began our investigation into that classic story. On week 2, we started with a game of "What time is it, Mr. Wolf," followed by "Red Light/Green Light". Then we told the story of Little Red Riding Hood. When we got to the part of the story where the wolf says, "The better to eat you with, my dear!", the children helped to create an ending to the story. "He ate LRRH up!" "No, LRRH chased him around and around the house until he got too tired." "Ya, then he left and he never came back." "LRRH hid in the closet with grandma until the wolf got too tired of looking for them." "And they lived happily ever after." "And then they ate the treats." We went on a short hike, collecting goodies from the forest to bring to Grandma's (and Grandpa's) house. Of course, we had to stop for a snack on the way. We saw some dead fish in the pond, and considered bringing them to Grandma's house too. We learned that because of the fast rise in temperature, there was so much plant and algae growth in the pond and not enough oxygen for all of the fish. We spied a few small turtles, then made our way to the Log House / Caterpillar House area. Look out!! It's the Big Bad Wolf! Don't worry! The Little Red Riding Hoods, Big Bad Wolves, Spies, and Pirates seemed to get along quite well in the forest that day. Time to go home! We'll see you next week!
It's hard to believe that we've already breezed through 2 weeks of our spring programs! We're having fun playing and learning together - learning each other's names, playing some games, practicing taking turns, hearing stories, and imagining new stories together.
Here are some photos of our first week together (look at the snow!!): |
Read on...Hammers, Huge Swings, and the Freedom to Play Archives
April 2020
|