Nature Walk: Snow tracks and Snowmen

This week we had our first 'official' nature walk. The kids had no clue, but I knew. It was the first warm day we have had in a long time. Turns out it was the calm before the the next storm. I bundled myself, Mustang, and Charger all up for an hour outside. I even gave them each a magnifying glass, but they lost interest in them quickly.

We headed out to the empty fields where you can see for miles. We cruched around in the snow, making snow angels. The kids each ate their fill of snow. They love the stuff!



We observed the clover growing under the covering of the stubble from last year's bean crop. It helped me to believe Spring might actually come sometime soon.



We found snow tracks from many different animals: dogs, deer, people, and cats. Mustang really liked the cat tracks. I wish this picture was a bit clearer.




We even observed the cat that made these tracks running into a barn. It seems to live there. It ran very fast, no time for a photo. Mustang thought it was very cool that we 'have' a cat. I thought it was cool that our cat doesnt need food, water, shelter, or attention from me :). We talked about how cats can be pets or be wild. We also discussed that they eat mice.

We listened to the sound of birds. It was impossible to truly observe birds, since they all fly away quickly with a 4 year old and 2 year old stomping after them. I look forward to the time when we can sit still and quiet long enough to watch our Blue Jays and Cardinals outside instead of through our windows.

Then, we built a snowman! We got to feel how snow can pack together to form snowballs and eventually snowmen. We used sticks for arms and rocks for the eyes, nose, and mouth. Mustang decided our man needed a chin.



This was a very bonding experience and I really enjoyed it. I want to get Mustang a Nature Journal, and I also intend to help her learn to use her camera more to capture what she sees. I just hope this snow starts to melt, soon, because it is hard to get out when it is so cold!