Let's sing about what is blooming. 'The flowers in the yard are yellow and white, yellow and white, yellow and white!' At Stoneridge Farm today, we were looking at flowers. One of the most common was the dandelion. We were able to find a bud, a flower and the seeds of a dandelion plant all in one spot. There is a lot you can do with a dandelion. We picked ten dandelion flowers with long stems and started making some “dandy crowns” but a few turned into bracelets and some went in our hats and hair.
Coyote had made a few changes in the trail by the farmhouse. We were able to find a new bell and an empty bird’s nest. What else did your child find? Recognizing changes in your environment is a great start to connecting with nature. Spring is a wonderful time to get outside and see the changes literally happen before your eyes.
At the big maple tree, everyone started looking for different colours of flowers along the trail. Sometimes when we see lots of one type of flower we can pick more of that kind but other times it is better to leave that one flower behind so there can be more next year. We made a spring nature magic potion with the things that we collected along the trail. Everyone added something to the jar and a few even got a chance to mix or shake the jar. The jar was so colourful with all the flower petals. Did your child have a favourite smell?
Snack time couldn’t come soon enough. While at Pine Haven, we ate, listened and then played. The story today was called “Do trees have mothers?” by Charles Bongers. Right after reading the title of the book out to the group, I heard a small voice say “yes, they do”. So true! The book offered a great connection to the trees and moms and we just celebrated Mother’s Day. It would make a great gift for any mom!
Down the trail, we used cardboard with holes in it to make some art. All we had to do was find some flowers and stick them in the holes. With this simple art project, we made faces, animals and flower vases using flowers from the trail. We also had some fun making noises with grass.
The leaves on the tree are growing so big! The Red Oak tree finally has some leaves that we can see and today we also saw some flowers. This mother tree is growing its babies; acorns. Meeting with friends, discovering changes, seeing the animals and sitting in the tractor are all fun things to do at Acorns and Oaks!
Happy Trails from Dragonfly and Chickadee:)
