Rain and sun makes play fun! The Nature Detectives have been taking advantage of the spring weather with days full of puddle stomping, bridge building, seed planting and animal tracking!

With the blossoms and leaves emerging on the trees, the Nature Detectives launched into a full investigation of the plant life cycle. The students visited our compost stations, thinking about how the soil created from our decomposers adds nutrients for the seeds!

We held our own seed expirement- planting radish seeds in soil from our playground, the compost, and sand from our sandbox. The Detectives made their own hypothesis to which would sprout first, and were able to observe the plant growth over the next two weeks!

In our outdoor classroom, the classes worked on turning our garden beds, and adding soil from Audubon’s compost stations to prepare them for planting! Every student got the chance to plant lettuce, spinach and grass seeds in our garden beds! With the rainy weather, we have been excited to watch our plants sprout, and look forward to tracking their progress throughout the rest of the year.

Eggs abound at Woodend during the spring! Under logs, students discovered slug eggs, while in the pond we were excited to discover salamander eggs! Hiding by the pond we found another Yellow Spotted Salamander, and the Detectives were eager to investigate the differences between frog, toad, and salamander eggs, and figure out what type of amphibian eggs we had uncovered!

We have heard the birds calling all around us these past weeks, and were excited to notice nests in some of our bird boxes! The students were also able to examine eggs we found outside a nest, and create hypothesizes to how we think they arrived on the ground.

In celebration of Earth Day, the classes have spent almost our school days outdoors this past week! With our much needed rain, the students enjoyed creek stomps, working hard to build our, “muddy headquarters,” in the AM class, while the PM students worked hard on a bridge by the lookout.

The classes were visited again by our Planet Pal friends, this time meeting Squirmy Wormy and Recycle Girl! Squirmy reminded the students of the importance of natures recylcers (decomposers), while Recycle Girl taught the students about reusing bottles, paper and cans. We even visited Audubon’s large recycle bin by the mansion, and guessed what new items could be created by using our helping hands to pick up recycled items.

With recycling on the mind, each student was able to create their very own Planet Pal power cape out of recycled grocery bags! Each child decided on a superpower to help save the earth, which ranged from rainbows that picked up recycling, TreeGirl who helps seeds grow, to Captain Wind who uses his powers to clean up trash! To cap it off, the students transformed into their Planet Pal superhero selves, and sang some of our favorite Planet Pal songs to our friends up at the mansion.

You won’t believe, what we did today, you won’t believe, what we found! To end this last week, the AM detectives discovered a box turtle up by Audubon’s rain garden! We made a small habitat for it in our outdoor classroom, while researching facts about it in our classroom books. The PM classes was equally entranced, even digging up worms and other small bugs for our turtle friend to eat. It is amazing to watch the students self-led discovery around the animals we are so lucky to find here at Woodend.

Books we Read

Superworm by Julia Donaldson

Why should I Recycle Jen Green

Lola Plants a Garden by Anna McQuinn

Compost Stew by Mary Mckenna Siddals

Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert

The Snails Spell by Joanne Ryder

Weekly Top Hits

This Old Earth

This Old Earth, Needs our help,

to stay fresh and clean and green,

with a pick it up, pitch it in, put it in the can,

this Old Earth needs a helping hand! 

I’m a Worm

I’m a diggly, squiggly worm!

And I like to squiggle and squirm!

But it might take me a while,

to crawl a half a mile,

through the compost in my pile!

Planet Pal Cheer

We are the Planet Pals,

the mighty, mighty Planet Pals,

Everywhere we go, people want to know,

who we are, so we tell them, 

We are the Planet Pals,

the mighty, mighty Planet Pals,

Gooooo Planet Pals! 

Spoiler Alert: Next week we will be learning about birds!

Gnomes abound! The Nature Detectives have been uncovering fairy magic and gnome homes all around Woodend the last few weeks. With roots in kindness to ourselves and those around us, the fairies have been leaving us notes with mindfulness tips, and we have been discovering different gnomes hiding on the trails of Audubon!

We kicked off our theme with a fairy treasure map designed by our very own Oaks class! The Oaks hid treasure all around our playground, and created a detailed map for the Detectives to follow and find the treasure!

The fairies left us notes throughout the weeks, outlining different mindfulness tricks we can use to be kind to our own bodies. We enjoyed an exciting visit from Boris the Tortoise, who showed us how she uses her shell to take a break from the world around her! We learned how to use our own “tortoise shells” (AKA child’s pose) to help calm down our bodies.

The fairies also introduced us to different types of magical breaths! We learned we can also use these magic tricks to slow down our bodies when having big feelings. We practiced the “take five,” “lion,” and “balloon” breaths, before using our magic breaths to create sparkly bubble art! We also created “emotion potions,” (aka calm down jars) that we used practice mindfulness.

The detectives uncovered both water and river gnomes in the Woods, learning that we can track how our bodies are feeling by checking in with our own “rivers!” Our “rivers” run fast, medium, and slow, which can correspond with running, walking, and being still! We learned a river song which accompanied creek bed exploration.

The pond gnome and colder weather lent itself to continued ice exploration! We experimented with breaking ice, as well as watching the chilly grounds melt into muddy fun!

In our stories, we noticed that fairies and gnomes are drawn with mushroom homes! The PM class enjoyed a fungi hike with Ms. Gail, learning about the different types of fungi we have here at Woodend. Indoors, we did a spore print experiments- leaving large mushroom caps overnight and discovering spore prints the following day!

The students also made kindness entries in their journals, brain storming ideas of how they are kind to those around them! We also practiced taking turns in the classroom as fairies in dramatic play, building withe zoobs, as well as creating our own gnome homes in the block area!

Weekly Top Hits

Deep and Wide

Deep and Wide, Deep and Wide,

theres a river flowing deep and wide!

Buh, da, da, da, da, da

Deep and Wide, Deep and Wide,

theres a river flowing deep and wide!

Books we Read

Rainbow Fairies by Nicola Baxtor

Pinkalicous: Fairy House by Victoria Kahn

Slop by Margaret Read Macdonald

The Rainbow Fairies by Daisy Meadows

Spoiler Alert: Next week will be finishing our fairies and gnomes unit!

The frosted trails provided the perfect backdrop for the Nature Detective to conclude our study on nocturnal animals at Woodend! The frozen ground spurred lots of ideas- from measuring frozen tracks to experimenting with breaking ice. It was so fun to watch the Detectives discern and track different nocturnal animal clues on the snowy grounds- we couldn’t have asked for more perfect conditions to learn about our nocturnal counterparts!

We continued our exploration of the frozen pond, noticing the changes as things began to melt and re-freeze!

In the snow, we tracked different animals towards dens and along logs through the snow.

Both classes enjoyed trips to the flying squirrel feeder, leaving sunflower seeds on our feeder tray for the squirrels to munch overnight! We also set up our night vision trap camera, and while it didn’t snag a photo of a flying squirrel, we did get one of it’s daytime cousins!

We continued our exploration of nocturnal animal super senses inside the classroom! We discussed using a super sense of smell, creating different scented playdough between the classes.

We experimented with idea of a bats echolocation, setting up a “sound cave,”  where the students experimented with different instruments and their sounds.

We capped off our unit by having a nocturnal animal PJ party! We did glow in the dark painting, created a glow in the dark star lit room in the bathroom, and sharing ANP with our stuffy friends!

Books we Read:

Possum’s Harvest Moon by Anne Hunter

Eye Guess by Phyllis Limbacher Tildes

Whoo Goes There? by Jennifer A. Ericsson

Night Gliders by Joanna Ryder

Daft Bat by Jeanne Willis

Weekly Top Hits:

Flying Squirrel (I’m a Little Teapot)

I saw something in the sky,

It doesn’t fly, but it likes to glide,

Its a grey-brown furry kite,

Soaring around through the night!

Everything is Possum (Everything is Awesome)

Everything is Possum! Everything is cool when at night you can see,

Everything is Possum! When you live in a tree!

Everything is better when you dangle together,

Side by side, you and I,

Gonna play possum together, let’s stay safe forever!

Everything is Possum! Everything is cool when at night you can see,

Everything is Possum! When you live in a tree!

Spoiler Alert: Next week we are beginning our Fairies and Gnomes unit!

With Winter winds beginning to blow, the Nature Detectives have been observing the changing of the seasons all around us! From the abundance of crunchy leaves on the ground as opposed to the trees, to that bright winter sun, the preschoolers have been hoping for snow on a daily basis!

With the sunlight dimming and moonlight coming ever quickly, we finished off our Planet Pal unit by meeting Moonbeam, Sunny Ray and Starbright! The students were easily able to connect with the brighter winter Sunlight we were playing under, as well as discussing how we are all noticing that the moon is coming out earlier. The afternoon class was even able to observe the moon in its different phases, over our playground!

On our Naturalist hikes, we also explored the ideas of sunlight and what might happen when the moon is out! Ms. Julie took the AM class on an animal track hunt, searching the mud in the pond for tracks that may have been left by animals during the nighttime! In the afternoon, Ms. Gail brought back her trusty measuring stick, and the Detectives took turns measure their heights in that winter sun! She showed the class different pictures of how our shadows change as we spin towards the sun throughout the day.

With the surprisingly warm sunlight, the PM class enjoyed a few all outdoors days, taking advantage of the preschool parking lots to experiment more with tracing our shadows. The AM class took the woods to their ever favorite, “Log Area,” where their planet pal super hero play was beautifully inspired by the backdrop of a bright, winter Sunny Ray

Indoors, the students also were kept busy by exploring more of the natural science behind our Planet Pal friends! At our meetings, we discussed that while Moonbeam is made out of rock which is a solid, Starbright and Sunny Ray are made out of gas! Since gas is invisible, we did an expirement where we mixed vinegar and baking soda together in a bottle, to which we then popped a balloon on top of the bottle to collect the gas! The students made lots of different hypotheses on what would happen to the balloon, and were all excited to see our Starbright balloon fill up with gas, just like it does up in the sky!

The classroom was also full of Planet Pal inspired play, from building Planet Pal headquarters in the block area, to experimenting more with the science aspects of orbiting with magnets in the lab table. We also did lots of hands on discoveries, creating stars and moons in the play dough, as well as using yellow shaving cream to create our own Sunny Ray inspired art!

We ended our Planet Pal unit with a scavenger hunt in the woods for all of buddies we have met over the last two weeks, followed by creating our very own Planet Pal class book!  On our hike, the students searched for Mother Earth, Breezy, H2O, Fluffy, Green Bean, Moon Beam, Sunny Ray and Starbright, using clipboards and charts to collect their findings. Indoors, the students had the chance to create their own Planet Pal, or write about their favorite one for our class book. It was so wonderful to watch their imaginations create new Planet Pals with our conversation ideas, and see them putting all of their science knowledge into action!

This past week at Woodend, we have been diving into what the different animals that call Audubon their home are doing to prepare for the coming winter weather! This past week we focused on the concepts of adaptation and migration.

We began the week by meeting a new animal fried- Bella the deer! Bella was dressed in warm winter clothes, which we all agreed was quite silly as we’ve never seen wild deer wear coats and hats! The Detectives thought of ways we adapt to stay warm, some ideas being: wear a warm coat, go inside, and enjoying hot chocolate! While those are things we might enjoy, we learned that deer adapt by growing warm coats and storing fat, as well as losing their antlers which take lots of energy to grow. To exemplify this idea, the Detectives experimented with an “Adaption Mitten,” which was a pretend mitten coated with a layer of Crisco to act as animal fat. The students were able to put one”Adaptation Mitten” on one hand, while the other stayed bare. The Detectives proceeded to put both hands into chilly water- observing that the “Adaptation Mitten” kept their hands nice and warm in the cold water!

The Detectives also took to the woods to play a deer antler hide-and-seek game! The students were able to take turns being a winter buck, and “lose” their antler in the woods for other students to find.

With less leaves on the trees, the birds have much easier to spy as pops of color up in the tree tops! We took to the woods to observe which birds are wintering here at Woodend, while others will migrate south to warmer weather. The students were also excited to leave sunflower seed out for the migrating birds, as they often take a stop off at Audubon to rest on their flight south! Indoors, we also created our own bird feeders with cereal and pipe cleaners to hang in trees.

To prepare for our winter celebration, the Detectives capped off the week with pine cone hunt in the woods! We learned that some birds that winter here have just the right beaks for pecking into those pine cones for a tasty winter snack! Indoors, each student got the chance to decorate a pine cone with white snow and glitter, that will hang from the ceilings for our winter celebration.

The students also enjoyed playing with trains indoors, as well as covering themselves in shaving cream snow! We also opened up a warm winter den in the dramatic play, as well as practiced building them in the block area.  The AM class also got to enjoy a felt board version of one of our favorites- It Looked like Spilt Milk, while Ms. Susan brought the PM class her giant map, where the students got to look at migration patters. The Detectives are rearing and ready to go to finish out our winter animal exploration next week and conclude with our exciting winter celebration!

Books we Read:

There’s No Place Like Space! By Tish Rabe

Planet Pals Book by the Nature Detectives

When It Starts To Snow by Phillis Gershator

Those Darn Squirrels Fly South by Adam Rubin

Crow in the Snow by Lesley Sims and Fred Blunt

Moon Cake by Frank Asch

Weekly Top Hits

Moon Moon Moon 

Moon moon moon shining bright

Moon moon moon my nightlight

Moon moon moon I can see

Moon moon moon you’re taking care of me

Look up it’s the moon

Look up it’s the moon

Look up it’s the moon up in the sky

It’s big and round and I have found

That it looks just like a pizza pie!

Sun Salutation Song 

Sun salutation, dance for the sun
sun salutation, dance for the sun
sun salutation, dance for the sun
I can do it,
you can do it,
we can do a sun salutation!
stretch up high -reach for the sky, hang down low – tickle your toes
feet jump back – just like a frog
belly on the ground – look toward the sun
now downward dog
and breathe, and breathe
feet jump up – just like a frog
hang down low – tickle your toes stretch up high – reach for the sky, now mountain pose – look what you’ve done (repeat)
sun salutation, dance for the sun
sun salutation, dance for the sun
sun salutation, dance for the sun
I can do it,
you can do it,
we can do a sun salutation!

Audio version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_SZ0A7iXA8

Winter Animals (She’ll Be Comin Round the Mountain)

Winter animals stay warm, yes they do!

Winter animals stay warm, yest they do!

They grow fat for adaptation,

Sleep long for hibernation,

and fly south for migration, yes they do!

Spoiler Alert: Next week we will be learning about hibernation and prepping for our Winter Celebration!