For our first autumn day of Wren's Nest it was truly feeling fall! Jack Frost had his first visit to many of our houses as well as Common Ground. When I arrived there were crystal patterns on the windows and the grass was sparkling. As the sun rose all began to flow again and the children trickled in, ready for our day.
This day began as so many good ones at Wren's Nest do, with beautiful blocks to build with, watercolors to create with, and a nature table to explore.
Lincolns bee hive
In our morning circle we sang some fun seaside songs about frogs sinking sailboats and the life of Irish pirate! We also talked more about our animal cards; wondering who might have feathers and who has fur, who eats other animals and who only eats plants. I apologize if animals were a mystery to parents last week. Here is the official list which may clear things up ;)
Lincoln: Porcupine, Sarah: Deer, Aurelia: Jumping Mouse, Jonah: Bobcat, Layla: River Otter, Maisie: Great Blue Heron, Sammy: Monarch, Nash: Racoon, Wyatt: Snapping Turtle, Grant: Robin, Ezra: Raven, Julian: Egret
For the teachers...Lindsay: Skunk, Samantha: Goldfinch, Katie: Barn Owl, Jackson: Painted Turtle
Ezra checking wind!
We had a bit of business to attend to with our first practice fire drill (we will do this once a month). We told everyone what to expect and pointed out the alarms. Samantha and I made our best beeping noises and the children quietly lined up by the back door. We then walked silently in a line to our meeting place out in the field. We sat in a circle to count to our magic numbers of children and teachers. All of the children did so well! Everybody listened closely, remembered directions, and stayed so quiet! We were very proud.
With all of that taken care of we set off for the pond! Even though fall was in the air the sky was blue as could be and the sun kept us so warm. On the way to the pond we crossed through Footprint Farm, admired their abundant fields and said hello to some of the animals. We heard about Spud the dog, although he did not greet us as we were expecting he would, and we stopped at the chicken coop to hear their songs and watch them basking in the morning sun.
off to the pond
Couldn't resist stopping to check out the pink rock!
Wondering what will become of these juicy green tomatoes at Footprint Farm...
...probably food for the chickens!
Wyatt wearing a milkweed sweater :)
Samantha almost hypnotized this chicken!
Once we arrived, there was not one child that didn't splash around in the water, and even though we tried to keep our pants rolled up many of us got very wet and very muddy. These are good indicators of a very good day :)
Up at the pond some of us were immediately drawn to the big smooth boulder surrounded by clay and mud on the edge of the water, some rolled their pants right up and got to work with shovels and buckets on the sandy shore, and a few decided to warm up in the sun and collect some treasures of autumn to make crowns with.
Sammy wrote his full name in the sand! We counted 21 letters (same # as Sams!)
It was such a nice day at the pond that we stayed for almost 2 hours! Soon enough though we were hungry for lunch so we made our way back to the eco lodge to get nice and dry and fill our bellies.
After lunch we had some nice quiet time, exploring the nature table, drawing in shared floor books, and looking at the great books that Samantha picked up from the library. We really loved Animalia and The Day the Crayons Quit made us all laugh. Then Samantha told us a very tongue twisting story about a baby in a bobbling bubble.
For our mindfulness activity I brought in a bell and tuning fork. We did some deep listening to these calming sounds with the children laying quietly and raising their hands when they no longer hear the special sound. Afterwards we let the children ring and explore the tuning fork which makes such a loud and circulating sound with just a little tap. Tuning forks are wonderful instruments, good for tuning instruments and also our bodies, they send out vibrations that many regard as healing and can help any of our own vibrations that may be out of tune.
With that it was already just about time for pick up so we gathered for our goodbye circle and reminisced on our wonderful day.
On Monday we are heading out to explore the Root Ball tree! It looks like it could be a wet and chilly day so be sure to pack rain gear and a change of clothes. The herbs we harvested for our first aid kit are drying out nicely so we will continue our work on that as well as have some fun with apples. I hope you have all been able to enjoy apple season with your families, it was a dry summer but I have tasted so many sweet and spunky apples...one of the greatest joys of fall!
We are excited to see you all again on Monday!
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