It was an exceptional week for building figures out of snow. From sledding to throwing snowballs, the students had a blast playing in the snow. This week was also the debut of one of our new educators interning at Audubon Vermont! Sarah will now be helping Truman and Emily out with Forest Playschool. Even though it’s only been a couple of days, the kids have already warmed up to Sarah and have played with her.
This week’s animal-to-find was the white-breasted nuthatch. Nuthatches are often seen walking down trees in search of crevices in the wood hiding insects. With a backwards toe known as the “hallux”, nuthatches are able to move head down by clawing into the bark. They are sometimes referred to as the “upside down bird” due to this behavior.
After finding our nuthatches, Wednesday’s class decided to go on a hike down to Beaver Pond. The ice at the pond was frozen solid, making it safe for everyone to walk onto it and “skate” on spots of ice that were cleared of snow. Afterwards, we had lunch inside and listened to stories about winter animals. We wrapped up the day by refilling the bird feeders and playing in the snow in the front yard.
Friday’s class also chose to hike down from the education barn, but instead went to Peeper Pond. Some of the kids built “snow beds” while others ventured into the tree line pretending to hunt mountain lions (eastern cougars did in fact exist in Vermont under 200 years ago before deforestation, over hunting, and other factors). And after playing at Peeper Pond, we returned to have lunch outside due to the warmer weather. We ended the day by sledding down the hill of the backyard and building snow men. One student built a snow man nearly as tall as Emily.
The malleable snow is a great way for the children to make the ideas in their heads come to life.
