Building roadways connecting memories of places we explore creates a map of our familiar landscapes. Mapping the territory of Harrington Mill Pond breathes new life into its special features like bridges, stumps, benches, or meadows. Bestowing names like ‘sunset hill’ - where we fly down on toboggans or roll like logs, ‘Manitoba Seat’ - the stump of a sacrificed maple tree leaning too far over the trail, ‘Root Highway” - a tricky section of trail with exposed cedar roots, or ‘North Port’ - a favourite launching spot of handmade watercraft, this gives us a sense of place. We travelled to the west side in the morning and east in the afternoon. Ask your child about the three markers they added on either side of the pond, and names given to places or features they care about. Check to see if they know which side of pond these were on.
Maps come in so many different varieties. We looked at road maps, park maps, ski and hiking trails, and even a map of aircrafts. Ask your child about the compass rose, legend or key, and what the symbols on maps tell us. Take a trip with the GPS off, hunt out new landmarks on your trip to nature school or make an unplanned stop at at roadside attraction or bush and give this location a name.
Mrs. Eastman, who obviously is in tune with the cardinal directions given her name, certainly gave us some challenging directional activities today. What animal did we create with the step by step instructions given by Mrs. Eastman. What other ways could we have fun giving directions to a partner while they are sketching? Test your mom or dad with these activities. Check out the special activity booklet that Mrs. Eastman prepared to help this group practice their new knowledge about mapping. It may be in the bottom of backpacks or outside pocket. Have fun with glue and scissors!
Our book ‘The Lost Library’ began with a lost book. What happened next?
A book shared today called 'Mattland' is about a young boy who has moved to a new housing development with only mud and NO friends. He begins to create a map using a stick to draw a curvy river, then begins to name and add more features. Soon others join in and work together to create Mattland, an amazing collection of hills, waterways and even a UFO pad. So we began our own land map using the abundance of materials on hand. Creations ranged from buildings to roads, campfires to forests. Ask your child for a guided tour of their piece of this paradise. Take a look at this slideshow and ask some questions???
If our blog title has you wondering here is the BIG reveal. Hotdogs are cattails and sinkholes, well, go ask Owl. She got her boot sucked off near the muskrat house in a very mucky spot. We will now stick to the rocks and beware of squishy places. 'Quicksand Corner' is now a destination on our map.
Ice fishing anyone?
What about one super cool discovery made in Mystery Forest? What might this be?
Or this funny picture??
Dragonfly, Tamarack and Coyote love their time at nature school too! The Heron team can't wait until our next adventure together.
See you next week Forest Friends:)
