Fall 2021 Wrap up and Celebration

Fall 2021 Wrap up and Celebration

I can’t believe that the Fall session has come to an end! This past week we celebrated every day with special food: nettle and rosehip tea, hemlock tea, fire roasted pumpkin seeds, and popcorn over the fire. What kind of celebration would it be without costumes! It was like a party every day.   

We also retold our Peace Superhero Story. This story was adapted from the Haudenosaunee peace story by Melissa Blake in collaboration with tribe members. In this story we meet Fine Words Fox, who uses their finest words, like please and how are you feeling. We also meet Shadow Tail, the squirrel, who grows in size when they realize how good it feels to help out. Shadow Tail carries the other Peace Superheroes on their back as they journey through the forest. Next, we meet Feel Better Butterfly, who helps others to feel better with their beautiful dancing and kind words. Peaceful Porcupine helps others to find inner peace by guiding them to take deep breaths, saying, “Everybody fill your balloon. And let it all out.” Our final superhero is Unity Unicorn who helps others to find common ground and things they can all agree on. The Peace Superheroes left us five peace stones to help us remember their superpowers and how to use them. 

On the last two days, we performed a song we had been working on all week. The first verse is one that we sing at school. The following verses the children made up themselves:

 

My roots go down, down into the earth
My roots go down, down into the earth
My roots go down, down into the earth
My roots go down
 
I am a Jaguar eating ice cream
I am a Jaguar eating ice cream
I am a Jaguar eating ice cream
My roots go down
 
I am a unicorn eating a marshmallow
I am a unicorn eating a marshmallow
I am a unicorn eating a marshmallow
My roots go down
 
I am a stick jumping on a trampoline
I am a stick jumping on a trampoline
I am a stick jumping on a trampoline

My roots go down

Enjoy this fun little video from one of the performances. laughing

Mud and Snow

Mud and Snow

We have had so much fun playing in both the snow and mud this past week. 

We have also been working on making friction fires with a bow drill. The kids have been helping us gather supplies for tinder bundles, whispies, pencil, and marker sticks. They encourage us, when we are having a hard time getting a coal and are amazed when the fire starts. It has been a fun process to get them involved with and learn about. 

More photos from the week. 

Office Location:
Cornell Cooperative Extension, 615 Willow Ave., Ithaca, NY 14850
607-272-2292 | email Us

Preschool Location:
4-H Acres, 418 Lower Creek Rd., Ithaca, NY 14850


Ithaca Forest Preschool is a nature immersion program for children ages 3-5. Our program is run in cooperation with Primitive Pursuits, a project of Cornell Cooperative Extension.