The rain never bothered us any way!  Nothing stops our Forest Preschoolers from exploring outside and having a blast. We had a wonderful day explore the wet wild woods of Forest Camp. On our way to forest camp one of our preschoolers noticed something that seems a little different.  There was some white stuff at the bottom of an ash tree. Upon closer inspection we noticed it was foam, that was coming from a the tree!  Debbie explained that this is what happens to some trees when it rains.  This occurs when rain water dissolves chemicals from the tree bark as it flows down the stem of the tree.  This changes the surface tension of the water, so that when it drips down towards the base of the tree,  air is introduced due to the turbulence of the water, and foam is formed because of the altered surface tension. Each of us got the chance to touch it and see what it felt, smelt and looked like. Right before we entered forest camp, we stumbled upon something else, a Red Eft! Our little friend was walking along the same trail that we were.  We gathered in a circle and with flat hands we let our new friend crawl across them.  The Red Eft traveled along all 12 of our hands.  Once everyone had a chance to hold it, we placed it back gentle where we found it. At Forest Camp we became bakers, explorers, architects and learners.  We played in the mud, moved wet branches, gathered water and measured tree distances. Teamwork is very important to our preschoolers.  They work together to make their mud desserts, part of that is having a "running team" that gathers water from a broken hose from Audubon's old well.  Seeing this teamwork and planning is incredible.   We also enjoy everything we do, from mixing mud in pots, to sitting and watching the water drip from the old hose or even finding a stick that is in the shape of a Y. Next week is our last week and Debbie and Emily are so looking forward to it!