It was the first time in months we saw a 50-degree day! It was nice for the students of Forest Classroom to be able to shed a couple of layers while spending the day outside. With peak sugaring season occurring, we felt it was only right to continue learning about maple syrup and how it is made. We began the day by sorting images of objects or natural elements as either relating to "sap" or relating to "syrup" (for example, sunlight is related to sap since it is need to produce sugar, and fire wood is related to syrup since it is needed to boil down the sap). The students learned a lot about all the materials and items involved in sugaring.

Afterwards, we ate snack before playing in the front yard. The snow was perfect for molding so the students did everything from building snowmen to snow balls. 

We then ventured down to Beaver Pond and learned how to start a fire with flint and steel. All of the students have had experience using matches at Forest Classroom, but this would prove more difficult as it required strength to be able to scrap sparks off the flint rod. But we did eventually start and maintain a small fire in our fire tin before putting it out and returning to the education barn. 

After we had lunch and read about sugaring, we went to the backyard to continue building snow forts and snowmen. And shortly after that, we did a bird-watch hike around the Warbler Trail. We saw the usual chickadees and nut-hatches and some faint deer tracks as well. 

We finished the day by playing in the front yard where the kids had fun chasing me around with a game of tag. Overall, it was an action-packed day with the warmer weather and sunlight making our time outside even more enjoyable.