
Weather, both the boss and the teacher! Today, we were gifted with beautiful packing snow and we were thrilled; building snow animals, creating snow wall art, harvesting icicles, and working together to roll the largest snow boulder ever.
Did you notice the new nature school ‘child’ greeting everyone at the front of the hall at pick-up time? It took 3 children and 2 adults to help assemble her! Try to predict whether she will be there again next Friday. (Hint: Google the Weather Network and take a look at the forecasted temperatures for next week.)

A fresh blanket of snow is like a blank canvas and this made you curious to see which creatures had worked together to create a mystery ‘painting’. Our first step was to recall the different walking patterns of wild creatures living nearby. Which patterns do you remember? Try acting them out and ask your family to guess what animal makes that pattern.

Remember when you paired up for a winter animal’ signs scavenger hunt. You looked for the direction animals were travelling, their way of walking and what they might be up to. Talk about these signs and the one we were all most interested in, SCAT! Which animals’ scat did you find? What surprises were found in the farmer’s field to the west of Mystery Forest?
Downstairs in the library, Grey Squirrel led a discussion about why some snow is better for packing while other snow refuses to stick together. Can you explain what makes the difference? We all laughed at the pictures in the book “Snowmen all Year.” Can you imagine seeing a snowman diving into a swimming pool in the middle of summer? How would the water in the pool and the summer temperature affect the snowman? Share other things you found interesting.
“Snowflake Bentley” is a true story about a boy with a passion for snowflakes. He spent his life searching for a way to be able to show people how unique each snowflake is. If it snows over the weekend, take a piece of black paper or a dark mitten and let as many snowflakes as you can land on it. Look at each flake closely (a magnifying glass will help) and like Wilson Bentley try to take a picture of each one or even just draw them. You are welcome to bring them to nature school next week and share them or glue them into your nature notebook.


Although today was the last day of January, each child was given a paper star and asked to write a wish for 2025. What was your wish? The star was then rolled up in a small branch of cedar. The First Nations peoples considered cedar as the ‘Tree of Life’ because it can be used for so many things. How did you do lighting the match to send your new years off into the sky? What do you think the chances are of your wish coming true?

We ended our day with a hike to the west side to reconnect with tree friends. What did you discover about the pinecones, oranges, and apples that were left for the birds and animals just before Christmas? Had there been any visitors to the winter shelter? It felt great to work together to shovel out the shelter and insulate the walls with new boughs. You know what they say: Teamwork makes the dream work!


Thank you to everyone for helping make this day a celebration of snow and friendship!

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