Timberwolf Trail - Week 8 - 2018-19 Edition

Week 8 of nature kindergarten is in the books and the class is getting settled in to some of our nature routines. This week, we worked on our Sit Spots for 10 minutes (5 minute observation/5 minute reflection & illustration). After our own Sit Spot work, we shared together and enjoyed some natural play.

We regularly use or nature backpacks for a variety of outdoor activities, including our Sit Spots.

We wrapped up our first round of outdoor stations by reading various books, doing some leaf rubbing, adding to our leaf pile, and making names with sticks.

We also added to our nature collection by collecting goldenrod fluff, twigs, and dried leaves for a special art project.

Using those supplies, we created a natural scene out of natural materials.

We ended the week with our Fall Celebration  and believe it or not, the kids chose to destroy the leaf pile we have been working hard on building by burying their teacher.

After breaking out of my burial place, we had a leaf throwing party.

We also had sack races, more natural play, and a good roll down the hill.

This week, we'll be starting new outdoor stations and beginning  a new unit on preparing for winter, filled with winter birding, den building, food gathering, and plenty of fun.

WOLF October 2018

Woodside Outdoor Learning Families (WOLF), is the family nature club I created to get more of our families out and about in nature. This month, our outing was an exploration of our collaborative partner, the Retzer Nature Center.

Throughout the school year, all of our students will have experiences with the Retzer Nature Center at this wonderful place and at our very own Timberwolf Trail. On this evening, around 25 students and family members enjoyed a fabulous fall evening out in nature.

On a short trek through a portion of the land, we found many things. Breathtaking views from the vista and a wonderful sunset were just a few of the highlights.

Log jumps were blurry, but fun.

Stops along the hike to explore nature finds included feathers, mushrooms, and lots of leaves. A little bear even made an appearance. :)

Before calling it a night, we got a visit form one of Retzer's animal ambassadors and a nature kindergarten favorite, Peaches the bull snake.

We look forward to our next WOLF event and many more to come.

Timberwolf Trail - Week 7 - 2018-19 Edition

Week 7 of nature kindergarten spent a good deal of time working with collections of nature. As our earlier post mentioned, we enjoyed our first Retzer Nature Center experience with some seed collecting. At our own outdoor classroom, we continued working with leaves.

We keep adding leaves yo our pile, continuing to do so until we have out Fall Celebration.

We also sorted leaves to create a leaf rainbow poster.

Even through the flakes aren't flying yet, a little more snowshoe practice doesn't hurt.

We kicked off  a new set of outdoor stations as well. After spending our weekly time in our Sit Spot and journaling about it, some of us . . .

investigating various books on a number of curricular-related topics,

using leaves for some leaf rubbing art,

collecting leaves to add to our growing pile,

and creating our names with sticks.

Unexpected discoveries are always welcome, Whether it be woolly bears

or rocks that write.

Though the end of the week was a bit we wet, we took advantage of a dry spell to collect natural materials for our next at project.

We gathered goldenrod fluff,

twigs,

and leaves,

We will use those collected materials to create a new art poster next week. We will do plenty more as well.