Hello Arroyo Nature School Families!
It's December, can you believe it? We have really been moving our bodies during this colder season. During this change in weather, we are often talking to the children about recognizing how their body feels. Sometimes wearing all of the bulky gear can be uncomfortable for the children and they quickly want to remove it. We do respect their requests and want to teach them some reasons why they may need to wear it. When we do help them unzip a jacket or remove a sweater, we will verbalize what we notice their body may be doing if we see signs that they are cold.
"We know you wanted to take off your jacket, but now we do notice you are shivering. You shivering is your body's way of saying that it is getting really cold, so let's put a jacket on so you can feel comfortable."
"If you notice you're feeling uncomfortable and cold, you can always say " I'm cold, I need to get my jacket."
The children have been great about using their words and are practicing how to tell us what they are feeling everyday. Most importantly, they are learning to recognize what they need for themselves and how to problem solve.
We have been finding new mushroom growth around the park. The cooler temperatures and moist areas are ideal places for some fungi to grow.
When the children spot mushrooms, we ask them to just observe them because of how delicate they can be.
There have been some challenging areas to explore in the park. The children have been really working on their balance and observing the area around them. We carefully walked through a moist creek bed and checked for wobbly rocks. Being aware of their surroundings is so important and we are beginning to learn how to explore natural areas.
The children have been working in the obstacle course area pretty often. That area has really offered such an inviting place to run, crawl and move our bodies.
Recently, this area has now become a neighborhood and the pathways are streets. The children pretend they are community helpers and work together.
Sometimes there will be firefighters zooming down the road with their fire hoses. Citizens from the neighborhood will yell for some help and the firecrew will quickly arrive.
Other times, different neighbors will give out cookies, pies and candy to anyone that visits. They will wait in their homes (usually by a tree, shrub or bush) until their friends arrive. It is such a joy to watch their conversations and interactions during their play. They fully immerse themselves in their imaginative play!
This is a home designed with colorful fabrics for the walls and roof. This blue fabric area is a counter where you can order some delicious food.
Having discussions about where the plane was going to go. Sometimes it is Hawaii or Mexico.
"Do you have a ticket?"
We have been learning the names of the different horses we visit. The children love to ask the equestrians when they walk by. So far, we know French Fry, Luna, Hamilton, Carly, Madrid, and Milo. I am sure there are more that I can not remember. We will have to make a list!
The mud kitchen is always busy. We are practicing our digging techniques and learning how to slowly dig and dump. There is so much learning that happens in this kitchen.
The children are learning about mountains and moats. They dug deep all around the mountain and patted the dirt on top to make it strong. They used ladles to scoop and pour water down the top of the mountain. Eventually they observed the water that filled all around it.
Some of the older children love to discover bones in the Arroyo. We talk about the animals that live in the park. When the children find any bones, we make sure to check the area and stage of decomposition before allowing them to hold the bones. Our observations are usually pretty open-ended and we really give the space for the children to discuss what they might think it is.
"Do you think this bone came from a big or small animal?"
" What kind of animal do you think it might be?"
" How did the bones get here?"
Some of the children were fascinated with the fangs on the skull. We talked about why fangs are important to an animal living in nature. We were thinking of a dinosaur, Bobcat, big lizard, Wolf and cat. What about you?
We found some pretty large pinecones to collect on our walk.
Did you know that pinecones can close their scales to protect the seeds?
There are ant trails that head all the way up or inside of the trees. We watched them and wonder where their home might be? The ants are always working so hard and we always try to not disturb them.
With the recent rain, the children love to go and see how much water is rushing down in the wash. Sometimes it is very low and the children ask why it is like that? Where does the water come from. We look towards the mountains and talk about how the rain and melted ice create the water we may see traveling through the wash.
There are some smaller built structures that we have discovered on our walks.
Some of the children pretended this was a raccoon home and they became raccoons while trying to crawl through.
This angle of the photo may not show the height of this hillside, but the children have been able to carefully climb pretty high up! They've become far more confident and able to crawl up pretty quickly.
This is a home between the Pepper Tree branches. They were getting ready for bed because it was dark. Some of them changed into pajamas, brushed their teeth, went potty and got ready for bed. They were a big family and were practicing a routine they do everyday at home.
Thank you for reading this week's newsletter! We will have more observations in our next newsletter. Until then, we will see you tomorrow!
Arroyo Nature School
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