News from the Outdoors

The Detectives jumped right back into school this week, exploring the changes at Woodend that happened over the break! The cold weather brought frost and ice, making the ground crunchy under our feet and the pond icy cold to touch! The frozen ground was perfect for spying animal tracks, with the detectives noticing signs of deer, raccoons and even the fox on the ground!

Both classes enjoyed experimenting with the ice in both the pond and creek beds, tracking how the ice changed over the week. The kids loved experimenting with different sized sticks and logs to create tools for breaking up the ice!

On our hike with Alex, we continued our nocturnal animal discovery by learning about flying squirrels. Both classes enjoyed a trip to the flying squirrel feeder in the amphitheater where we got a chance to leave seeds for the squirrels to discover overnight!

News from the Classroom

This week at preschool we began learning about nocturnal animals and their super senses! On Monday and Tuesday, the detectives explored their super sense of touch when learning about raccoons! We used our hands to make finger paintings as well as played a mystery box matching game with different textured objects from nature.

In the block area, this weeks’ challenge was to build a house for our friend Chester the raccoon! We also opened up a new kitchen in the dramatic play area for cooking up treats during this cold weather!

We also learning about the flying squirrels super sense of sight! We played a nocturnal animal memory matching game using our sense of sight, as well as brought back a fan favorite- Sneaky Snacky Squirrels! The detectives also got a chance to create their own squirrel kites, simulating how the squirrels glide from one tree to the next during the night.

Books we Read

When Winter Comes by Charles Phillip Fox

Mooncake by Frank Asch

The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn

Weekly Top Hits

Flying Squirrel (Tune: I’m a Little Teapot)

I saw something in the sky,

It doesn’t fly but it likes to glide,

it’s a grey-brown furry kite,

Soaring around through the night!

 

I am Nocturnal- Raccoon (Tune: You are my Sunshine)

I love the night time, the dark black nighttime,

And that is when I, prowl around

I am nocturnal,

I love the nighttime,

‘cuz I’m a raccoon, I prowl without a sound!

Spoiler Alert: Next week we will continue our Nocturnal Animals exploration by learning about owls and foxes!