Family Nature Class

It is so fun to be leading parent/ nature hikes again.  I love the opportunity to be out in the woods connecting children and their parents to their local park.

This week we started class with three station activities:
Books on a blanket
Making Nature Crowns
Mystery Bags with (acorns, an apple, rocks, )

Then on our hike we find three different types of trees:  Can you tell them by their bark? It was a tactile investigation search. This is an activity to work on observation skills and develop language.

We also did a Bingo game where we found different plants and animals along our trail.

We stopped in a grassy grove for Story Time and Snack.  I read Subway Sparrow by Leyla Torres  a book in three languages and a story about how a community can come together to rescue a bird.  A resource on what to do if you actually find a baby bird is on the Portland Audubon's website.

I also read Birds by Kevin Henkes....a natural followup activity art activity to this story would be to actually draw a picture of what the flight of birds would look like if their flight pattern actually left "tracks across a sky." It is a simple story, but with bright and vivid pictures it is great for sharing with groups.

Songs we did included:

Cheep, Cheep Little Bird will you tell your name to me? an intro song...

Little Bird Little Bird Fly to my Window as learned from Elizabeth Mitchell.

A Poem: Five Feathered Birds

Five Feathered birds sitting by the door;
One flew away and then there were four.
Four feathered friends singing in the tree,
One flew away and then there were three
Three feathered birds looking at you,
one flew away and then there were two
Two feathered birds sitting in the sun
One flew away and then there was one.
One feathered bird looking like a hero
He flew away and now there are zero.

A song about the Birds sung to the tune of the Mulberry Bush.
This is the way we fly like birds. (pretend to fly around).