Timberwolf Trail - Week 36 - 2017-18 Edition

It has been a great week of nature kindergarten so far and we have had two main themes: service and visitors.

Our week kickstarted with the removal of some old and tattered restoration tarps and the planting of over one hundred various native prairie plants.

We also had some wonderful guest. First, we met with Dan and Nicole. They are great supporters of our nature kindergarten program through their tree service business. They have provided logs and stumps to adorn our learning areas. They have donated tree cookies, logs, and various wood pieces for our natural play area. They also are generous enough to collect and cut over one hundred birch bark tree cookies that our kindergarten classes turn into amazing nature art as part of our end of the year celebration.

Another set of guests weren't as local. Over the computer we connected with our forest friends form Moretown Elementary in Vermont. All year, we have exchanged letter, gifts, art projects, and stories. It was great to see them face to face and celebrate a great partnership, even if both sets of kids were a bit shy.

Then, with our old tarps needed to be replaced, we set out a few new tarps that will hang out for a year until next year's classes move them and plant underneath. It's a cycle.

We've done this restoration work the last three years, giving each student an opportunity to be a part of something exciting and unique. Below is a picture of the last few years worth of child-led restoration work.

After competing another birding session, we enjoyed an experience never done before in nature kindergarten. While we were working with he tarps and the kids mentioned how much work it was, they asked who takes care of the land when school is out, After finding out it was me, they were oddly enthralled with the fact that I mow the trail and wanted to see the mower. In the afternoon, not only did I show them, I mowed a bit so they could see how it is done. They helped out by moving some branches, rocks, and stumps so that I could create a bit of a cleaner natural lay area for them. Who knew mowing the lawn could be such an exciting and collaborative experience?

Tyke Hike #52 - Hartland Service Hike

Our first ever service tyke hike was a great success. Thirty-three hikers of all ages worked to remove almost as many bags of garlic mustard from a small section of the Hartland Segment.

Starting off with a look into the past, we envisioned what the area may have looked at thousands of years again with Lisa Wheeler's Mammoths on the Move. Then, after a brief hike, I introduced the aliens that are talking over Wisconsin's forests: garlic mustard.

As we headed back towards our work area, I asked the kids to yell garlic mustard every time they saw it. Needless to say, they were yelling a lot.

Once we got to the work zone, we talked about one of my classroom mottos, "Work hard! Play hard!" We lived out this motto by puling garlic mustard in two different areas before our natural play.

The wet but not soaked ground made it very easy for all hikers to easily pull out the invasive plant with intact roots. The kids seemed to have plenty of fun filling up their bags.

Of course, they had plenty more fun exploring a sweet natural play site adjacent to the work area.

Our youngest generation needs to learn to love and appreciate nature before we ask them to take care if it. I hope this hike (and future hikes) will be a small step in this direction.

Timberwolf Trail - Week 35 continued- 2017-18 Edition - Retzer Visit #7 - The Pond

Our Retzer Nature Center collaboration continued with a wonderful spring visit to examine different waterways.

With five stations and a goal of documenting all the creatures we encountered, we were set for a nature day.

Kicking off at the stream, we searched for several macroinvertebrates to assess the health of the stream.

Identifying such tiny creatures can be a bit tricky for kindergarteners, but they had a great time finding new friends, including scuds and water striders.

At the small pond, we hear birds and frogs before examining animals previously caught. We compared and contrasted toads and frogs, searched for snails, and used an infrared thermometer to find out all sorts of temperatures in the pond and on each other. :)

Next, at the insect station, we learned how to sweep for insects. Our sweeping worked as we caught ants, beetles, spiders, and many other creepy crawlers.

Our fourth stop brought us to the big pond. Here, the kids (and parents) had a great time getting dirty and catching creature. We had motes, leeches, dragonfly nymphs, fish, frogs, and plenty of tadpoles.

After a fifth and final storybook station, we ate lunch and enjoyed some playtime on the hill.

The it was back to the nature center for some indoor exploration.

We wrapped up the day with a beautiful view from the vista and some natural play.

We always enjoy our Retzer time and anticipate another great day of outdoor learning at our nature celebration in a few weeks.