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! 

A mysterious five-fingered track, a frozen creek and lots of sledding — the Chickadees sure had an exciting Tuesday!

The Chickadees gathered in the log circle on a chilly Tuesday morning to see what mystery Eli had for them that day. Out of his pocket he took a picture of an animal track that has five fingers on both its front and hind feet. Eli shared that this animal lives here but has relatives in South America, is very intelligent and dexterous and will eat just about anything! Afterwards Sarah taught the flock a new song that revealed what this animal was. The lyrics are below so you can sing it at home! It’s sung to the tune of “I’m a Little Teapot.” 

I’m a little raccoon prowling around 

I hunt for food without a sound 

A mask on my face and a bushy tail 

Let’s see if you can find my trail! 

The children put on their backpacks and headed down to Trillium Camp, stopping at the bridge to observe any changes they could see in the landscape. Ice! The cold weather had helped the creek freeze again. The Chickadees quickly hung up their backpacks and followed Eli downstream in search of ice to play on. They not only found a strong and slippery patch of ice to slide around on, but also tracks, everywhere! They noticed tracks with three short “toes” and tracks with four toes and claw marks on the ice. The animals of the forest must have been busy while we were away! What do you think they were doing? Do these animals slip on the ice just like we do? Trillium Camp was filled with laughter and squeals of delight as the children slid around on the ice and collected large pieces to build ice castles. 

Speaking of ice castles, do you remember our friend Willa the Winter Fairy? The one who lives in an ice castle and helps animals?  Sarah told a story at slunch about a hungry raccoon, named Rita, who had just woken up from torpor — a hibernation-like state that raccoons go in when temperatures drop. When temperatures increase, raccoons wake up and look for food. Rita and another raccoon, named Millie, couldn’t agree on how to share a popular feeding spot. While Willa is very skilled at helping others, she knew someone who specializes in helping animals share and find things they can agree on. Any guesses as to who that could be? Unity Unicorn of course! With the help of Willa and Unity Unicorn, Rita and Millie agree to share the food so they can both survive winter. 

After slunch it was time to warm our bodies with some sledding! The children trekked over to the sledding hill and did a great job taking turns sliding down the hill and carrying the sleds back up. By the end of the day the Chickadees were feeling warm and grateful for a day spent in a winter wonderland!

Thank you for reading! We’ll see you next week for more adventures in the woods! 

The sun shone in the cloudless sky and sparkled on the fresh snow as our flocks gathered on Monday for this week’s adventures. Bundled up in the cold morning air, the flocks did their best to guess this week’s mystery animal. What do you think it was?

Chickadees

During Opening Circle, Eli passed around a picture of a track. It had 5 long toes that kind of looked like fingers. Could it be a human print? Maybe a squirrel? The Chickadees got down on their hands. How would this animal move? They waddled over to the tree where their nest was. It was daytime, so it was time to sleep. This animal was nocturnal! When it was dusk, it was time to wake up and head over to some tasty looking trash bins full of delicious food to eat. After gorging themselves on human food waste, the Chickadees thought they had figured out which animal they were pretending to be. Was it a raccoon? You guessed it!

It was time to head to camp, so the chickadees made their way down the snow-covered, sunlit trail to the bridge. They observed that the creek looked different today: it was covered in ice once again! After carefully testing to see if the ice was thick enough, the flock got to play near the frozen stream and explore the many fresh tracks in the new snow. They found deer and squirrel tracks right in camp. There were so many fresh tracks to explore, leading in all directions around the forest! 

During slunch, Sarah kept the flock warm with a toasty fire. With full bellies and warm hands, the Chickadees headed up to the top of our big sledding hill and got to whiz down on the fresh blanket of snow again this week. At the top of the hill, Eli also built a jump for the sleds. 

“Are you ready?” “Ready!” They flew through the air and landed on the soft white ground.

On Wednesday, the sun hid from us again as fresh snowflakes fell from the sky. The flock practiced their animal walking around in the snowdrifts, and even got to slide down the Climbing Hill in Trillium Camp. Today, everything was thickly covered in snow, even the creek itself! Soon, the flock was also covered in snow from their morning romp.

While they filled their bellies during slunch, they learned about a wolf who loved cookies and learned to share them with a butterfly friend, and Nora told the story of how Pan played his pan pipes against the god Apollo. With magical music floating through their heads, the flock headed inside to warm up and then back to the sledding hill to try out the new snow that had fallen and get more air-time on the sled jump.

Though the week was chilly, the Chickadees stayed warm and enthusiastic as they learned about crafty raccoons and played in the deep snow.

Nuthatches

What has dexterous hands, a black mask, eats almost anything, and moves on all fours with a waddle? Why, a raccoon, of course! During Opening Circle, the Nuthatches got to experiment with their raccoon-waddles all across the field. When it was time to pack up and head to camp, the instructors gave the flock an important task on the sunny morning. We needed to collect as much firewood as we could for our special activity during slunch. The Nuthatches worked hard to collect lots of whispies, pencils, and markers (three good diameters for firewood) from the forest all around camp, and piled it up inside our shelter. While the flock worked diligently bringing sticks back to the nest, Ian had a special treat in store.

He built up a log-cabin fire that was soon roaring out of the snowy ground and placed a bag of round objects into a pan. Today was a day for roasting chestnuts! First, Nora had to cut a slit in the chestnuts so that they could cook on the inside. Then they were placed in boiling water for several minutes. 

While the chestnuts were boiling, Will told a story about how Jack the Raccoon helped the Peace Superheroes keep their tasty meal. 

A snow snake had snuck into camp and stolen all of the chestnuts from the Peace Superheroes. They didn’t know what to do, so they called on Jack the Raccoon. Since he was so crafty, he knew just what to do. He and Unity Unicorn tracked the Snow Snake through the woods, following the trail it made in the snow. They snuck up on the Snow Snake, and when Jack jumped out to surprise the snake, Unity Unicorn grabbed the chestnuts and took them back to camp. Thanks to Jack, the Peace Superheroes had a tasty treat to finish their slunch.

After boiling over the fire, it was almost time for our chestnuts to become a tasty treat for the Nuthatches! Ian finished roasting the nuts in a slotted pan over the open flame. Then, each member of the flock got to peel and try this new treat. Many nuthatches enjoyed the woody and sweet flavor so much, they asked for seconds. Everyone in the flock was very adventurous and tried the new snack, just like raccoons!

Ready for an epic scavenger hunt? 

On Tuesday, the Nuthatches went on a quest. 

After making some beautiful snow angels in the field and getting our hearts pumping with Foxtail, we trekked to our camp. To our surprise, there was a gift left for us! On a log nearby by our shelter, there was a mysterious map that looked like it had been through a fire. There was a bag next to it, which held the Peace Superhero stones: Fine Words Fox, Shadowtail, Feel-better Butterfly, Peaceful Porcupine, and Unity Unicorn. 

After some careful deduction, we realized that the Peace Superheroes were sending us on a hunt to find something underneath a white pine tree! But…which one? We all spread out to look for tracks. 

The tracks looked like they’d been made by a raccoon, because they had five fingers! We followed them, snaking in and out of the woods and field. Finally, we saw a white pine tree that matched the one on the map. And under it…two bright orange sleds! 

What a perfect gift from the Peace Superheroes! We ran back across the field with the sleds and practiced taking turns sliding down the hill one by one. We ended the day with some important electrical repairs on the shelter and sharing our gratitude for sledding!