Wednesday, February 17, 2010

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!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a fun walk you guys had! I love the snowman. I saw this idea in a book to do nature bracelets for toddlers. Basically it s a piece of packing tape wrapped around their wrist (sticky side out). When they see something they like the stick it to their bracelet. Then when you get home you cut it off and stick it to a piece of paper or another piece of tape.

Supermommy said...

I love nature walks! Looks like the kiddos learned a lot.

Elise said...

What a great sensory experience and learning opportunity - not to mention fun activity to do together.

I also like the sound of a nature journal.

Unknown said...

Looks like you all had a great walk. You are braver than I, that is for sure. Of course, I have an excuse, I'm allergic to the cold. We are supposeed to hit 50 degrees today - happy dance, happy dance. I hope we get a chance to do a nature walk soon also.

Anonymous said...

Nature walks are always fun, especially on a farm. My parents live on a farm and the girls love to explore whenever we go there!
Thanks for the comment on my blog earlier today!
http://mymontessorihomeblog.blogspot.com/

Anonymous said...

lovely, just lovely!!