This week we are saying goodbye to our wonderful instructor Will, who is off to finish college. We also welcomed Emily, a new instructor who will be with us on Tuesdays and Thursdays! 

The Nuthatches embarked on several snowy challenges this week! We learned from our animal of the week, Fisher, about sliding through the snow and making new friends.

The Nuthatches started off Tuesday the same way we have all week: playing games in the snow and exploring the snow tunnels! We sang the Wolf, Fox and Weasel song, because fishers are actually in the weasel family. Then it was off to our camp by Turkey Knoll. The path was so slippery that we had to slide down on our bellies or bottoms! 

When we arrived at Turkey Knoll, Ian invited the Nuthatches to try their hands at an epic obstacle course full of fun challenges! At the end, a special surprise would be waiting for us. 

The first challenge was to climb over the fallen log, and then back under it! The Nuthatches did a great job practicing taking turns so that nobody got hurt. Next, everyone plopped in the snow and made snow angels! The obstacle course also included challenges like making an owl hoot, doing the wave, balancing on a log, and singing the birdie song! Throughout all of this the Nuthatches used their teamwork skills to help each other through. 

For the final challenge, we had to climb through a spider web guarded by a black and orange spider, who tickled us with a pine branch if we touched the spider strands. Finally, on the other side of the web, we found a real treat: popcorn kernels! We spent the rest of the day “chilling” around the fire, and munching on popcorn that Ian popped over the coals. Nora also told a story about Friendly Fisher and Open-arms Owl, who had some lessons to teach about inviting other people to play. 

On Thursday, the Nuthatches got to meet a new person, Emily, and show her our old camp at Ash Grove! There, we were given another challenge. This time, the children had to hide a gift for the instructors to find! They ended up hiding it so well that the instructors walked right by it. 

And what was the mystery gift? It looked a bit like a bow. Will explained that it’s called a bow-drill, and it’s a way to start a fire without using matches. He set up the kit, and with some support from the Nuthatches, was able to get a coal going. He nestled it in some tinder and blew on it, as the Nuthatches arranged firewood to put it in. What a cool way to start our slunch fire! During slunch, Will told an exciting story about a time when he saw a fisher in person. 

After slunch, the Nuthatches got into partners for the next activity. In each partner pair, each person shared one thing that they felt proud of about themselves, or something they were good at. Then we came back together in a group and shared what our partners said. Some of the things the Nuthatches are proud of are: making friends, learning ballet, running fast, eating fast, making fires, and holding up the sun! After sharing, the Nuthatches played together as a group on the shelter, before circling up to send Will off with air-hugs. We’ll miss that guy but we’re pretty sure he’ll be back someday!

A big storm brought lots of snow to our area this week and even canceled prescool for three days! We were so happy to see the Chickadees again on Thursday for an execptionally epic day of tunnel-making, belly-sliding and exploration in the deep snow!

A deep blanket of snow greeted the Chickadee flock as they arrived at preschool on Thursday morning. After getting out of their cars, the children had to wade through thick snow towards the red oak tree to drop off their backpacks. Thankfully, Wren, Primitive Pursuits Program Director and Homeschool instructor, used their snowshoes to make paths for us — thank you, Wren!

When it was time for Opening Circle the children realized the log circle had disappeared! They worked together to brush away some of the snow to find the logs that were buried underneath. But there was something else missing! “Where’s Hannah?” asked some of the children. The Chickadees looked around but didn’t see Hannah anywhere. Hmmm, where could she be? Suddenly, a pile of snow that was sitting in the middle of the circle came to life — it was Hannah! The children screamed and laughed in surprise and Hannah said that Nora had taught her that foxes, wolves and huskies actually sleep in the snow! Even though snow is cold to the touch, it is a good insulator and traps heat. Sarah taught the group a fun song about snow falling down and covering the Earth in a warm, thick blanket. The lyrics and movements to the “Snow is Falling” by Melissa Blake are below. 

The snow is falling, falling, falling (Wiggle your hands like softly falling snowflakes and lower them to the ground)

The snow is falling down on the land (Repeat previous movement again)

A blanket is building, building, building (slowly start to stand upright from your crouched position)

A blanket to cover and keep Earth warm (stand up and cross arms around your body like you’re giving yourself a hug)

After Opening Circle, the Chickadees headed over to a giant snow pile that was left behind from the plow. During arrival, Hannah had started working on a tunnel and the children helped her finish it. They took turns crawling through the tunnel. Others pretended to be mountain climbers, climbing on snowy peaks and then sliding down on their bellies.

Before they knew it, it was slunch time! After washing their hands and grabbing their backpacks, they took a rest in the log circle and listened to Nora tell a Haudenosaunee story called “How the Rabbit Lost Their Tail.” During the story, the sun came out from behind a cloud and the children celebrated its warmth and the presence of a clear blue sky. 

The Chickadees spent the rest of their day playing in the snow and built a “snow chicken” with the help of Nuthatch instructor, Will. When asked what the snow chicken’s name was, a child said “Gerbert.” You can see a picture of Gerbert below with her eggs!

Thank you for reading! We’ll see you next week for more fun in the snow!

First thing’s first: bury Will!

After three snow days in a row, the Nuthatches were ready to get back to preschool. How exciting it was to see everybody’s faces and play in the mountains of snow!

When the Nuthatches arrived, program director Wren was busy stamping down some paths across the front field with their snow shoes (thanks a million, Wren). Throughout the day we stayed warm just from the effort of walking through the deep, deep snow. Instead of going out to our camp, we stayed in the front field. Immediately the Nuthatches got going burying each other, tunneling through the snow mounds left by the plow, and throwing snow in the air and at each other. We made sure to remind each other not to throw snow in anyone’s face! We all know how unpleasant that is. 

In order to make our circle we had to tramp down the snow several times. During circle, we met a new person! Francesca, who will be with us on Thursdays! We also sang the song that goes, “I hear the wolf and the fox and the weasel…” And our animal of the week is the fisher! We learned from Will that fishers have short legs and long bodies, and are some of the best hunters in the woods. Later some of the Nuthatches climbed and made tunnels in the snow like fisher do. We’ll be learning lots more about these cool creatures next week. 

What fun it was to climb in and out of the snow mountains. 

Some of us became volcanoes and erupted with great clouds of snow!

After a wonderful reading of Wolf Island at slunch, the Nuthatches continued to play and tell stories in the snow. Some of us even used the snow as a canvas to draw beautiful designs in. And finally, the sun shone down on us, making the world very bright and warm!