Play time!

I may be sore in places I didn't realize I even had, but the next step of forest kindergarten is coming along nicely.

This weekend, I took advantage of the beautiful spring weather and enjoyed some wonderful outdoor time with my daughter. Rather than hike our favorite Ice Age Trail segment or head to a nature center, we headed to my school to begin working on our natural play area.

Though moving logs and rocks was a bit exhausting, the time (along with blood and sweat) spent was well worth it as I am excited to share this new area to my students tomorrow.

Rocks and log-lined path back from trail to play area

Play time!

Branching off the regular trail, I created a rock and log-lined path that diverts into two circular play areas outlined by balancing logs. One area has a small collection of tree cookies in it while the other has longer building branches. From the second circle, a second segment of the rock and log-lined play leads back to the regular hiking trail. I am excited to see what the kids think of this area, but more importantly, excited to see them explore and create with it.

Cookies, anyone?

The second area has sticks like these.

Rocks connecting circular play areas

Rocks and log-lined path back to the trail

With some leftover cookies I thought might be a bit too tricky for building, I enhanced seating for one of our outdoor classrooms.

Enhanced outdoor seating options

Next up is to continue to enhance this area before moving my efforts to preparing some of the land from some native wildflower and prairire plant restoration with some traditional restoration techniques and some seed bombing.

Let the playing begin!

Timberwolf Trail - Week 30 - 2015-16 Edition

Our forest day was more of a forest afternoon. Our class enjoyed a wonderful performance by the wonderful Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra in the morning, so our outdoor time was a bit limited today. It was the perfect day to get jumpstarted on our service project.

Mother Nature has been very generous to us in our inaugural forest kindergarten year. We have had generally pleasant weather and ample opportunities to learn more about the land and how nature works. This experiential, place-based educational opportunity has transformed and continues to transform how I interact with nature and how I teach the children in my care. No matter how much I put into the process, I feel it always gives back even more.

With my class, we always talk about the importance of giving. One way I felt I could incorporate this concept while also providing unique and exciting learning opportunities is through service learning. Having access to an expert on prairie restoration in Wisconsin, I am fortunate enough to have some limited experience with the process, but more access to native seeds and important information. I feel it is my duty to impart some of this knowledge with the class while allowing them to use it to give back to our school and Mother Nature.

We kicked off this process by watching a short video on how a different school in Wisconsin worked on a similar project (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzzG01WEPyc) We briefly have talked about one of our responsibilities is to learn from the land, but also help take care of the land so that other students can learn from it. What better way to do this than to help restore it with more native grasses and plants?

Of course, though this is a timely process, every little bit helps. We removed a tarp I placed on the land nearly ten months ago. We moved the tarp to the adjacent section and then used gardening tools to prepare some holes in the ground for seeds. Before heading out, I showed the class pictures of the native grass little bluestem and native flowers including the gray-headed coneflower and the blue aster.

We threw on some seeds I was able to acquire from a different restored last fall. After packing on some dirt and adding water, we are ready to play the waiting game, knowing full well restoring a prairie is a timely matter that requires patience and persistence.

Planting is hard work, so the class took some time to enjoy natural play before we headed back in and prepared for home.

James Island County Park

Maybe it was punishment for missing church on Easter Sunday. Maybe it was poor timing. Maybe it was just dumb luck, Either way, the rains we endured on our holiday hike through James Island County Park in South Carolina made our trek wetter and wilder than expected.

Though we primarily stayed on the paved path, encountering an alligator warning sign so early in the journey definitely raised some eyebrows.

Paraphrasing Seinfeld here, "As the rain poured down on us, we thought to ourselves: there must be a better way!"

The girls didn't let the weather dampen their enthusiasm. They frolicked through the forest, climbing Spanish Moss covered trees and splashing in every puddle they could find. Embry's hikemate, Ruby, reiterated a saying I've had to tell my forest kindergartners on more than one occasion:

"You know what they say about water??? It will dry."  I also enjoy my favorite outdoor saying (though grammatically incorrect), "Dirt don't hurt!"

Though the rain seemed to strengthen as the hike continued, you wouldn't know it by the energy of the girls. They loved reconnecting with their Ice Age Trail roots as they attempted to bop every blaze they encountered. I thought Embry's head might explode when we  ran into a  triple "rainbow blaze."

And what is the best post-hike encounter when you are already soaking wet. . . a run through the park's fountain and splash pool of course. Just beware of the alligators!

Timberwolf Trail - Week 29 - 2015-16 Edition

Even though the weather hasn't been exactly springlike, this week, our daily hikes have focused on searching for signs of spring using our senses. While intermittent rain caused a shortening of today's outdoor time, our previous hikes and findings helped our spring search tremendously.

Our hawk friend is barely visible in the background

No more than ten steps into the trail, we aroused a red-tailed hawk who reluctantly left his perch on the ground and took flight around the land, moving from tree to tree until finally finding a resting spot, though our feathered friend kept a close and keen eye on us.

We took a few exploration stops on our extended hike and went off trail in search of signs that spring was here. On our journey, we found many of these signs and other interesting things, described by the students as. . . .

pieces of bark "bitten up by bugs,"

"soft and squishy moss,"

and "squirmy worms." Additionally, we also noticed green grass, bugs, bugs, woolly bears, leaves, and enjoyed a chorus of song birds. We also noted that the screech of the hawk probably wasn't too exciting for most music lovers, unless of course you are a heavy metal fan. Thankfully, I am.

As usual, we enjoyed time outside despite being shortened to avoid the rains that never even came. It didn't stop us from our joyous sprint down the hill towards our classroom.

Though we headed in early, our learning had only just begun. We thought about the signs of spring we observed and thought up, brainstormed a long list, and used some of those ideas and our best direction-following to create a Signs of Spring foldable.

Thought Wisconsin's weather continues to trick us and the next week looks a bit "winteresque," spring has definitely sprung in our indoor classroom. Hopefully, our outdoor classroom will soon follow suit.

Timberwolf Trail - Week 28- 2015-16 Edition

Just hours before spring break came, it started to snow. Figures. Either way, though a bit disappointed that old Man Winter had returned after some pretty warm days, my forest friends enjoyed one last morning outside before spring break.

With this being the last time out before break, I planned a Trivia Trek to wrap up some of the numerous things we have been learning together inside the classroom walls. At stops throughout the trail, we worked through various questions to review some core curricular areas. Whether spelling out sight words, adding and subtracting, counting out syllables, rhyming word families, or discussing the amazing (and somewhat gross) process of digestion, the students were raring to move from question to question to keep out of the wind gusts.

After finishing up the questions, I posed an extra credit opportunity.  Begrudgingly at first, the students obliged. Once they found out it involved singing and dancing to one of our favorite class poems, they warmed to the idea, both literally and figuratively. After doing the actions of Gingerbread is Fun to Make, we sang and danced to a forest favorite, Leaves, Branches, Trunks, and Roots, speeding up each time through the chorus.

Because of the wind, we postponed our forest floor art project and decided on reading our story inside. We did however still get in some quality natural play time.

After lining up and taking count of bodies, our weekly rendition of using our outdoor voices to count backwards to zero, the class enjoyed a more recent tradition, running from the outdoor learning area closest to the trailhead and racing down the hill towards the school. Once inside, we read It's Spring, co-authored by Samantha Berger and Pamela Chanko  and illustrated by Melissa Sweet before getting a closer at a donated avian skull generously donated by a former student.

Maybe just maybe the next time we hit the trail, spring will be here to stay. We'll find out in a  few weeks.  Happy spring break!

Tyke Hike #21 - Loew Lake

The February winter-themed Tyke Hike was 55 degrees and bright. The March spring-themed hike was low 30's and flurrying. Gotta love Wisconsin! Throw in the latest edition of my toddler's "threenager" tantrum which may or may not have been exacerbated by an unexpected dip in the Oconomowoc River and you've got the ingredients for a memorable Tyke Hike.

Nineteen hikers of all shapes and sizes trekked beautiful Loew Lake on this chilly last day of winter. With signs of spring on our mind, the kids led the hike from the get go, often breaking away a little more than usual.

Collecting sticks and pointing out every pine cone in sight kept the pace reasonably attainable. Once we made it to the river, we used the bench for our group photo and took a break with the picture book And Then It's Spring, by Julie Fogliano. After a quick snack, it was on to the boardwalk and the surrounding area for a squishy session of natural play. Traversing the sticks and broken boards of the boardwalk, we were able to find many wonderful signs of spring, from the chorus of birds to the presence of the odoriffic skunk cabbage.

As I mentioned to the visitors, one of my favorite sayings in forest kindergarten is becoming a regular phrase uttered during the Tyke Hike's natural play time. "Dirt won't hurt." This might be my catch phrase.

Quite the "cheesy" smile

Now falling into the river might. Now, "falling" is a bit of an exaggeration. While I was answering some questions,  Embry followed the creative  lead of other children and was using a stick to "fish." She got a little close, slipped on the mud, submersed one hand into the drink. This was not her finest moment, but just one of the drawbacks of nature play. Luckily for me, her, and the rest of the hikers, nature offers way more benefits, so a little mud and river water is nothing.

Though I ended up carrying her for most of the return trip, she did get to continue "bopping those blazes" and insisted on doing something we call a stump jump as we approached the end of the hike. Fortunately, her stump jump did not end in a rump bump. She is going to be an excellent rhymer. :)

With another Tyke Hike in the books, we will see what the April 23rd hike at Lapham Peak has in store. Based on the Tyke Hike weather so far this year, I'll bring my snowplants and sunscreen.