The Nature Preschool at Irvine could not wait for more maple sugar magic! We started off our week with fresh snow! There were some interesting tracks leading us into the outdoor classroom! The children were excited to investigate and try to guess what critter left them behind. Hoof prints were definitely deer, but when we saw tiny prints that stopped at the foot of a tree the children guessed it could have been a squirrel or maybe even a raccoon! Another favorite discovery of ours was finding frozen critters! Can you guess what they were? Here are some hints: they fly from one flower to another, collect pollen, and make a buzzing sound! That’s right we found dozens of frozen bees! We collected some in a jar and are going to try to see if we can warm them back into being active! Out on the trails the children had so much to discover! With a crunchy layer on top and soft snow underneath, this was the perfect snow for digging tunnels! We found some that animals had made, and then made we some ourselves! In the meadow we built snow people and animals, while others had fun sledding down the giant hills!
We were all a little disappointed our Maple Magic Pancake Brunch had to be cancelled due to snow, but we had a back up plan! Out on the hike the children got introduced to the hand drill, and practiced making holes in soft fallen trees! We explored the tapped trees, looked at the sap in the buckets, identified which branches and hiked to the evaporator to see how the sap is turned to syrup! Afterwards, we invited the families to join us in the Fern Room for hot cocoa and a syrup taste test!
We were lucky enough to have some visitors join us this week! Mr. Daniel, a parent of a student, came in to share some emotional coaching puppet shows! All the children were mesmerized as they met his dear friend, Teddy, and helped him feel more comfortable meeting a large group of new friends! Some other parents joined us to play music and read stories! Take a peek at all our pictures! See you next week!
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Mr. Daniel comes for a visit!
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Snuggling with his teddy!
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Smile Blackbirds!
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Going for a hike!
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To the barn!
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Investigating the evaporator!
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What could these jugs be for?
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Loving these snow formations!
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Let’s run in the tracks!
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Friends playing tag!
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Let’s go for an adventure!
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Beautiful Tree
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Frozen Findings
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Woodpeckers Under The Loft!
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Time to Build a Snowman!
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Montessori Inspired Math Activity
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Story Time
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Tapping to the story!
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Who left these muddy prints in the snow?
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Where will these tracks take us?
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Touching Icicles
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Chickadee dee dee dee
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What birds can you identify?
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Giant Icicle!
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She wanted to try too! (Her own icicle, don’t worry!)
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Bird Tracks in the Bird Blind
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Rolling a giant snowball!
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They are working on the head!
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Let’s assemble this snowman!
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Showing off his reading skills!
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Someones mom came in for a story!
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Thanks for sharing with us!
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Smiles in the outdoor classroom!
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“I’m on top!”
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Blue Eyes, Big Smile
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He turned this into a shield to block incoming snowballs!
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A slice of pizza ice.
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Performing on stage with an ice chunk in hand!
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Teachers and friends hiding out inside our giant hollow log!
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Showing off their jumping skills!
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She turned backwards while jumping!
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Climbing Trees
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Frozen bees we collected in a jar!
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It’s time for a maple syrup taste test!
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Time to warm up with some cocoa!
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Mmm, tastes so good!
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She prefers her cocoa warm, not hot!
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Exploring how much quicker the ice melts in our hands inside!
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Let’s make some playdough pancakes!
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Lining up our balls of dough!
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Looks tasty!
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Yum!
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Bat Cave
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Exploring the power of magnets!
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Magnet Bracelet
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Working together!
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Cutting out pancakes!
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Our letter of the weeks is “Pp” for pancake!
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Smiling in the loft!
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Collecting some sap in dramatic play!
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Families joined us for cocoa!
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Let’s build!
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Beware of the spraying stinky skunk!
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I see someone peeking from behind this maple tree!
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Friends reading together!
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Pancakes for snack!
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Yummy!
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Mouthful of maple syrup and pancakes!
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Miss Meghan shows us how to use a drill to tap a tree!
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Righty tighty! Let’s drill this hole!
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The children all get a chance to try!
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Sweep away the shavings!
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We loved the way the snow that melted left these lines in the snow!
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Tracks!
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A hole in a tree? How did it get there? Do you think anything lives inside?
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“Look at how my feet are sinking in the snow!”
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Smiling in the snow!
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Playing a game in the Fern room! Everyone runs to the color that is read aloud in the story!
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Time for a taste test!
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Little siblings were welcome to some cocoa!
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Families too!
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Emotion Stones
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Draw how you are feeling.
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Painting Branches
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Mr. Daniel and Teddy!
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Love the rainbow pattern!
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Let’s cook!
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Time to collect some sap!
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That bucket is getting full!
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Pancake Feast!
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Smiling in his shades!
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Contemplating in the outdoor classroom!
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Let’s learn about maple sugaring!
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Your turn with the drill!
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Turn right and make it tight!
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Who knows what comes next?
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“Let’s follow these tracks!
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Scat in the woodland garden! How did that get there?
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Deer broke through the fence! We found this hole after investigating!
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Someone has been digging holes!
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Observing some plant life that has been changed by the winter!
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Looking for the letter Y in the branches.
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Mr. Zeke came in to share some music!
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We had a blast!
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Mrs. Page shared a birthday story!