March 13th Maple Magic!

Let us go to the Sugar Camp 

While the snow lies on the ground

Live in a birch bark wigwam 

Cut a notch in a maple tree

Set a pail on the ground below

Soon the sap will be flowing 

Make a fire in the sugar lodge

So that we may boil the sap 

Bring all the wooden ladels...mmm

In the snow see the rabbit tracks

Hear the call of the chickadee-dee-dee

Do not stop to follow them..

Tis the season of the Sugar Camp, Tis the season of the Sugar Camp

We started off the morning with some fun indoor play, basking in the sunshine. Jonah brought in a book about the Titanic that inspired an impressive replica! 

 We played with light and learned that all of the colors of the rainbow are in light, we just can't see them all the time. 

It was Ezra's turn to teach about his animal, the Raven. My favorite factoid from his presentation was that Ravens will put nuts on the road so that cars will drive over them and crack them open-they are very clever birds indeed! Great job, Ezra!!

A silly song...

Back to the pond to check on the tadpoles that had probably gotten much colder over the past few days! 

We searched for owl pellets and sunny spots to keep us warm as we adventured on the blue trail-a new one for us. 

When we found a nice warm sunny spot, we gathered for a story about the mice who make woodpecker holes into their homes, creating mouse apartment buildings. Then on our way back we found several mouse skyscrapers! 

We found some crystal clear ice that we could see bubbles underneath. We tried to crack it with rocks but it was frozen solid. 

Taking our time on our walk back...

Now today was very special because in the afternoon our classroom was turned into a fine dining establishment with a focus on all things maple. 

Our favorite chef, Samantha, was busy in the kitchen flipping pancakes while we gave our bodies a little warming rest. 

And then, it was time! We donned some festive apparel and agreed that eating in a fancy restaurant means you need some very fancy manners and did we ever! With yes please here and an excuse me madam there you could tell we were someplace special just by listening.  

We taste tested all the different kinds of Grade A maple syrup. Dark robust, amber rich, and golden delicate as well as maple sugar and some maple sap. Soon all you could hear was chewing and yumming, it was delicious! 

Seconds, thirds, and even fourths were had by all of our maple connoisseurs. We took a vote in the end on which was our favorite one to taste. Many of the children voted for all of them :) but in the end it was a tie between dark robust and golden delicate. 

Tis the season of the sugar camp!