Sweets and Tweets

The Forest Dreamers are ready for summer! This week prepped us for some of the summer heat we will have to become accustomed to! We took time this week to do some bird watching and have some summer exploration fun!

Tweets are what we focused in on Tuesday and no, it had nothing to do with a computer! These tweets rang from the treetops, in the bushes and right over our heads. Of course, we are talking about birds! Each Forest Dreamer received a birding ‘kit’ to help them feel more like scientists. We talked about what real, grownup bird watchers do when they are out in the field or forest. We also thought that knowing about each bird would help us learn more about their nesting habits. We found out that birds’ feathers serve many different purposes. Feathers can be used like a pillows, sun protectors, shade makers, sleds, blankets, fancy jewelry and even snow shoes! We spread seed along the trail and filled the feeders in the bird blind. We checked bird boxes and even came across some boxes with tiny babies! How exciting!

Thursday was exceptionally sweet! We had Ms. Karen join us and we all chipped in and made lemonade! We learned what ingredients go into lemonade and we discussed the concept of dissolving using heat (sugar). We squeezed our juice, added water and dissolved sugar, gave it a few stirs and some ice cubes and enjoyed. Our Forest Friends unanimously agreed that we made a great batch!

Due to our first truly summer like day, we made the decision that this day’s hike would focus purely on the stream! We had some in depth, uninterrupted exploration time with jars, buckets and cups. We collected water, searched for  (and found!) some frogs, climbed the banks, and made balls using river clay! Our story this week was an African folktale entitled- Why Misquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears by Verna Aardema. It was about a chain reaction of events that caused a forest mix up. Each animal thought they were innocent because their actions were brought on by the previous animals action. We focused on the onomatopoeias  in the story which were fun. The iguanas say mek mek mek, snakes say wasawusu, wasawusu when they slither, the bunnies say kirk kirk kirk when their back legs hop!

Boing on, Forest Hoppers!