It was a gloomy day at Audubon, but that didn’t affect our spirits! We arrived full of smiles and ready to spend the day outside. We had the challenge of finding 50 camo critters in the woods to get us started. This activity helped us focus in on finding small camouflaged things on the forest floor, practice of observation skills, and fine motor skills too. By the end of the day, we found all 50! When we looked at them we talked about how these critters could be sorted, we could group them by size, pattern, color, number of legs, shape, and so many more ways!

After we played a few rounds of Park Ranger in the field we headed out on a hike. This week our students wanted to go up to the Education Barn and Office. Once there we talked about the different places we could go  on this side of the property and the activities we could do. While on trail we played some fun trail games and continued to observe the wildlife around us. Once back at the clubhouse we wrote/drew in our Notebooks. The prompt was to write or draw something that we noticed on our hike today. 

After lunch and reading Belly Up, we explored Beaver Pond. Some of us sat with a butterfly, while others splashing in the mud and collected critters from the pond. We caught so many tadpoles, a young green frog, a few water spiders, a dragonfly nymph, and some other macroinvertebrates.  It is important to take note of the critters in your water becuase they are indicate if your waterway is healthy. If you have a body of water you visit frequently or one by where you live, you can look and see how healthy it might be too! Learn more about how macroinvertebrates help us learn about our water quality here. 

We enjoyed afternoon snack and some free time in the woods. Many of us were looking under logs for critters and we found some salamanders, slugs, and plenty of worms. 

We ended our day sharing out of favorite part of the day!