The markets are closing, final stocks are trading and it’s looking good for the future of Mother Earth. These stocks are the currency of caring, and the commodity is Nature and her future sustainability. The only way to raise the value of the stocks is through increasing the caring. Today, this was our focus, having kids ask themselves what places and living things they love the most.
Check in with your child about each bead on their bracelet or necklace. Which space or living thing will your child carry in their hearts until they return to this land in the future. What does the walnut in the middle stand for? Making these artifacts and keeping them in a special place will help carry warm memories of nature school through the summer of new adventures.
It might be a good time to chat about the creation story you believe in, and ask about the story we passed on today from First Nations people in this region. Who is the moon, sun and earth in this legend? How did humans come to live on the land? Our message is that we are caretakers in fellowship and partnership with the natural world.
Walking with our feet in contact with the earth is a connecting experience. Some of us walked the whole trail in bare feet. What did it feel like? Did we notice different textures and make some small discoveries with our toes? This may have felt a bit risky for some, but most overcame that and felt more confident as we walked together.
Back at the farm it was time to take our reflections and put them into crafting with our hands. We are so thankful to Ladybug for planning and gathering supplies for our earth felting activity. These broaches will bring back memories of nature school and will come home with your child next week.
As part of living off the land we used our herbs growing in the garden and wild to add to a tea bag. We know that herbal teas often have wonderful health benefits like relaxation or cures for colds. Have your child steep their tea for 3 minutes and enjoy their own personal brew.
We have come to realize that wherever we are in nature it is only steps away from a hidden wonder. Some of our new nesting boxes are already filled with bird families right in the backyard. We peeked with our new snake camera into one with a clutch of Chickadees and another tightly packed with Tree Swallow chicks. They are just growing feathers so should still be in their house next time we take a look. They look HUNGRY!!!
Finding Out
Blue Jay found a small blue egg in the sand arena. We wondered if it had a chick or not. One way is doing a float test. Salmon thought it was half and half for the test. We knew it wouldn't hatch without being incubated, so Frog opened it up. What was inside? How did it make you feel? Frog offered another way to check if an egg is fertilized. What was that? (candling).
We also found some eggs in the top paddock. Mother Killdeer went into defense mode. What's her strategy to draw predators away from her nest? (pretends to be injured). She has nested here before and we have to close the paddock until they hatch. Oh well!
There are many different languages in the world. Our Forest Friends are familiar with English but some are even learning a second or third language. As in learning Bird Language to understand more about birds, by learning other languages we can learn more about other cultures. Learning some Ojibway words is one way to acknowledge the respect and gratitude the Anishinabek Nation have for the all living beings. What animal word did your child sound out and share? Ginebig - Snake or Wasbooz - Rabbit or Esiban - Raccoon or Waabigwan - Flower
After learning some of the animals and plants in Ojibway, it was time to play another round of predator and prey. This time we did our best to act out the type of animal or plant and no human voices. Did you child like their role in the game? What was their strategy to survive? Was it hard to communicate without words?
Another sneaky element to the game, was the 'poisoned water' and 'poisoned food energy'. One of the carnivores actually had picked up a poisoned water and a poisoned food energy was passed to him from one of his prey. So sad!
We can't believe that next visit is our final one for the school year 2023/24. We have to say so long to Rose and Turtle our two little amazing nature schoolers who have grown so much this year.
You may notice some gummy frogs in backpacks (if they made it home) as we had Frog's actual 9th birthday here at the farm complete with birthday circle, singing and lots of laughter. Keep loving the land until we meet again Forest Friends:).
Comments