This month the School-age 1 children took a walk to Millen Woods. The purpose of this walk was to explore nature. They were intrigued by the trees that were surrounding the environment, some of them were broken laying down, while others were making bridges and passages. There was a little swamp, slow-moving water that was dominated by trees, and other vegetation. The ground was covered with moss, some grass, leaves, sticks, and burrows. The air was warm and moist, attracting many mosquitos.
As soon as the children entered the space, they noticed the triangular wooden structure made out of thin branches, resembling the small pyramid. Harvey and Theo were very excited about the structure so they decided to add a few more branches which were representing a window and a gate. The boys used hand-eye coordination by placing the branches in the right position, and also practiced their gross motor skills by doing the heavy lifting.
Some children liked to practice their balance skills by climbing the long logs that were laying on the ground and walking along. Some of them were walking in the straight line, others sideways, or crawling on their knees- they liked the challenge. Daniel, Bela, Niall, and Josie found a structure created by fallen trees and decided to climb them in all directions. They all wanted to get to the top of the structure. Josie wrapped the tree with her legs and arms, pretending to act like a koala bear.
Niall and Theo were looking for insects, they started examining the big tree trunk and found the tiny red ants crawling across. Niall said that they are fire ants and they can bite. Parker noticed a spider climbing the bark of a tree and found a little hole, which the spider hid himself in. As soon as he saw that Parker said, "the spider found his home".
Niall and Olivia were wondering about the burrow, thinking that it could be a rabbit who lives there. Grace and Kaitlyn were observing the swamp asking each other if there are any alligators hiding or rather the busy beavers working on the dam. The swamp was calm, only the big dragonflies were hanging above the water.
Our nature walk turned out to be a big success, every child shared their joy and positive comments about the new experience.
