Timberwolf Trail - Week 15 - 2019-20 Edition

Another week of nature led to another week of helping the Earth.

Despite the foggy start, we found time to play and begin our study of winter birds.

We also collected some natural supplies for our holiday gifts. They will be revealed later this week.

Observing the kids in the action of playing is such an eye-opening experience. Learning while having fun sounds good to me!

We also received a generous supply of seed scraps so we went out and seeded other parts of the land.

We also searched for shed deer antlers. We didn't find any.

Or maybe we did.

We ended the week with play. However, two nature kindergarteners decided to spend their playtime helping the Earth. Stewardship in action!

Loew Lake Family Hike

The family and I took advantage of a beautiful autumn morning and trekked around one of our favorite areas, the Loew Lake Segment of the Ice Age Trail. Sadly, we haven't been here in quite some time. Since then, there was some forest management work done and many, many trees were cleared. It was definitely a different (and much lighter) experience.

While there were less trees, many more blazes were added to keep hikers on the trail in the is much more open setting. The girls made sure to find and bop each one.

Seriously, each one.

Even the ones on fallen trees.

We also found and observed burrows, pine cones, pine needles, the "canoe" tree, nuts and seeds, and mud, lots of mud.

Of course, we stopped at the area where a few fallen trees make a wonderful natural playspace. It was awesome to see their bravery, risk-taking, communication, collaboration, and problem-solving in action. They could have stayed there all day!

It was an another amazing and much needed escape to nature. And in case you want to know if Arden enjoyed it. . .

he did.

Timberwolf Trail - Week 14 - 2019-20 Edition

This week, connecting to our science unit on plants and animal needs, we worked on how people can help the Earth. In my opinion, to help the Earth, kids need to love the land. To love the land, they need to play in and with the land. So this week, we played a bit more than usual.

Frosty lamb's ear

When inside, we previewed our upcoming study of birds by visiting our newest classroom pets, a family of eagles found via live eagle cam. So far, we have two eggs. It is always exciting to have this experience guide us as we learn about the birds in our own backyards.

After school 4:15PM sunsets can still be pretty

We also continued creating inside using recyclable and reusable materials.

Queen Creativity

We also brainstormed ways that Woodside could help the Earth before taking those ideas and turning them into trail signs.

We also focused on some service learning. After dumping off this week's compostables into our garden's compost bins, we started woodchipping muddy parts of the trail to improve the tread and safety of our trail.

Racing to the wood chips

We might have played a little as well.

Our final outdoor adventure of the week was being observers at a chosen Sit Spot. For just a few minutes, students sat and observed nature up close. We do this regularly and discuss the changes we see, the things we hear, and everything we feel. This sets us up beautifully for our birdwatching adventures, coming real soon!

Tyke Hike #70 - Delafield (Cushing Memorial Park)

Fifteen hikers of all ages came out for the final Tyke Hike of 2019. We are only fourteen hikers away from 2,000 for the Tyke Hike program. That should be reached at the First Day Hike at Lapham Peak.

This energetic and spirited group cruised up and down a stretch of the Delafield Segment near Cushing Memorial Park. Stopping only to enjoy some natural play, the creativity of the children was on display as they created and played their own games as we hiked.

There was climbing and balancing, running, and crawling, and an occasional fall.

When the hike returned to the starting point, the energy release continued as many tykes tested out the amazing Fort Cushing, the playground of the park.

Another successful year of Tyke Hikes in the books. The third child and some unfortunate weather did limit the hikes in 2019, but we look forward to a bigger and better 2020. Hopefully, you'll join us as well!