Spring

My heart sings out when my almost seven year old boys notice and wonder about things in nature. Today one of my boys said, "we have that flower in our yard," as he pointed to a patch of purple crocuses along his path to school.

My other son asked, Isn't it early this year that the daffodils are already blooming? I noticed them as early as Valentines day?!"

I suggested, we should keep a journal so that we note when they are opening and can notice if they are coming up earlier each year.

These understandings of nature, climate and the seasons let me know that even though my boys are in a dense city - they are not disconnected from Nature.

Seed balls

Today at the Beacon Hill good forest work party we made seed balls. We added many nitrogen fixing legumes such as peas and fava beans, plus some other edibles. It was a team effort. 5 parts clay to 5 parts compost and a bit of water. Then we sun baked them. Next is to find a place to throw them!!

Thank You!

Thank you to those of you who came out for the Schools Out Washington Summer Con Workshop on Incorporating Nature and Outdoor Time in your Summer Youth Programs. I wish we could have spent time outside listening, feeling, seeing and playing in urban nature, but time went so fast!  Thank you for sharing your stories and memories.  Thank you for all you do for our children.  I hope you find some time to take in nature as you get inspired for your after school and summer programs. 

I did want to follow-up with a resource on the benefits of walking to school as someone asked.  Here is one resource from Safe Routes to School that lists the benefits.   Another local resource if you are trying to plan walks in Seattle is Feet First where you can access maps of many of our local communities.

Toddler Tales and Trails: Moles

Today we focused our lesson on: Moles and what they eat.  We started with an opening activity of making play dough worms and stamp insects.  Then I showed a stuffed mole.  We talked about what moles eat,  the insects and worms that are in our soils.  We sang a song that was an adaption of a song in the curriculum Growing Up Wild. It went.  “the worms are mixing up the soil, up the soil, up the soil, the worms are mixing up the soil, now plants can grow”  we added a verse about bugs and then moles.  After singing we read the story of Mole’s Hill by Lois Ehlert.  Then we tried a parachute mole game where we pretended the kids were moles and the adults held up the parachute as kids tunnelled under it. 

We also sang the song “Wish I were a mole in the ground” learned from Pete Seeger from his Birds, Beasts, Bugs and Fishes cd, but with variations … such as if I were a mole I would tunnel through this town...eat wiggly worms.

Then it was time for our hike.  We stopped for an opportunity to dig for critters living underground.  We found and explored  mole holes and then play a mole game.  Kids had to find bugs & worms (plasic) first using their eyes and then being guided by their adult with their eyes closed, since moles usually have quite week eyesight and adaptation due to their life underground.