What’s that Peeping Around?
One reason that I love working at Irvine is because I discover new things every day! With springtime approaching, many plants and animals are emerging from their winter siesta! Today the children chose a further destination. Taking advantage of the warmer weather, they wanted to visit some water and look for signs of life! Grabbing our backpacks, we set off for Irvine’s ponds!
The first thing that everyone noticed was the spring peepers peeping! What a sound they make! Slowly, we set off around the ponds looking for these elusive frogs. As we approached, they got louder and louder….and then…silence! They have a fantastic alarm system because we were not able to find any! However, when you can’t find frogs, maybe the next best thing is frog eggs! What an awesome find one of our Dreamers discovered!
Since we had some time left, we headed down the trail to check out the nearby stream. The children were fascinated with the current and watching sticks make their way down the water. Some children braved the cold water and enjoyed a quick game of “throw the rock and watch it splash”. At this time, we had to have a quick lesson in rock safety! We had a tired bunch of children as we headed back to Irvine!
A New Place
This group of Forest Dreamers are explorers and investigators! Somedays, we have to drag them away from teepee building, squirrel home making, and log hammering to gather for the morning. Last week, we noticed a new place to explore at Irvine. As the children came to council this morning, we asked them if they wanted to set off and explore. Everyone was in agreeance and eager to see where this place was!
To get to our special place, we had to go off trail and walk through the grasses and brambles. This was a new experience for several of our friends! This also meant that the children had to face some fears. With some guidance and encouragement, everyone was able to navigate the deer trail to get to our spot.
Once there, the children loved our “hidden spot”! Some friends chose to climb inside the fallen tree trunk and look for insects and bugs. Others, set off through the skunk cabbage wetlands making their way to the far-off bridge. This presented some challenges as they had to avoid stepping on the skunk cabbage, getting their boots stuck in the mud, and being scratched by the thorns that are starting to grow. While half the group did this, the rest grabbed some shovels and dug out the stream building a dirt/sand/mud castle! I loved seeing the teamwork that everyone incorporated into their play!
