There is room for us all!

As the holidays draw near, the Turtles are as busy as elves in a workshop, preparing gifts of thanks for volunteer nature mentors, for our friends and for our family members. Special thanks to Coyote for dropping by to help us with our crafts. This is also a great time of year to reflect on the changes and the growth we have noticed all around us.  Can you retell the story Together We Grow? Every page had words that rhymed and had all different kinds of animals in it.  What did you learn from the story? 

You can look through the other twelve blog posts about our days with the Turtles this past fall.  Is there something that brings a smile to your face? Each picture from the photo scavenger hunt was taken from the blog. What did you notice about the photo with you in it?  What was happening in that photo?  How did you feel?  Some of those photos were taken awhile ago.  What changes did you notice about yourself?  Are you taller now? Do you feel differently? One change  we had as a group was having a member of our nest leave the program. How did you feel when you remembered Blue Spruce?  Grey Wolf remembered having fun building the shelter with him in Mystery Forest.  Do you have other memories of playing with Blue Spruce?

What changes did you notice in Mystery Forest that weren’t there in September? Snapping Turtle spoke up and said the obvious thing “There’s snow everywhere!”. Hawk and Bald Eagle noticed a few more trees had fallen down.  What might have caused that to happen?  What happened to the animal resting spots we made a few weeks ago?  One group noticed sticks and corn were gone and were replaced by animal tracks.  Leopard Frog identified them right away as the tracks of busy squirrels.  Hope they enjoyed the snacks we left them!  There were other tracks in the forest too.  What other animals do you think visited the forest?  Hint: Big feet first, then smaller ones! What other activities did you do during wander time?  Pin Cherry made a pumpkin pizza delivery to Deer.

Do you remember seeing and hearing the chickadees in Mystery Forest? Grey Squirrel had the perfect book today about chickadees. Is the chickadee really a criminal mastermind?  Thanks for the story Grey Squirrel and colouring sheets!

What do you remember about the book that Cardinal read called Squirrel and Bird? Was there ever a time you felt uncomfortable being quiet, shy, loud or excited?  What if someone wanted to play with you who didn’t like the same things and didn’t act the same way?  What would you say to them?  Have a chat with your family about it.  Think of three kind ways you can get to know someone better at Nature School. You can never go wrong with kindness. What nice thing did you say to a friend today?  

After a fun time of sledding on Sunrise Hill, the Turtles returned to the Hall to reflect in their journals.  Hawk and Pin Cherry sharing a sled, Snapping Turtle setting up a chicken shop in Mystery Forest, Bald Eagle enjoying a ride on our group swing.  Everyone has their own memories and that is okay.  What memory from Coyote Nature School makes you smile?  Whatever it is, there is room for them all! Happy memories!