What a beautiful day for our first day of Forest Classroom! There was a little chill in the air and smiles on our faces as we got all settled into the Clubhouse. As we arrived, we decorated our name tags for our cubbies and also made nature journals for the year too.

For morning meeting, we were all introduced to the idea that the students lead and plan our day. We discussed what options we had for the day and what interests we had to explore. After morning meeting and going over some Audubon ground rules, we enjoyed snack and picked our book that we will be reading. We voted for The Animal Protection Agency, Tiny Claws.

After a snack we journeyed to the Beaver Pond where we brought nets, cups, looky no touchy bins, ID guides, and our open minds. At first we were catching anything, we were noticing all the insects flying around and balancing on the water tension. Finally, someone caught a couple small tadpoles and a few water striders. We were nearing the end of our time but then someone caught a MASSIVE crayfish! After that we caught 3 more, some newts, more tadpoles and a giant diving beetle! Some other friends spent their final minutes building dams along a small stream which was coming from the woods leading into the pond.

After lunch we started to build some shelters and fairy houses. A few friends used this time to look under logs and rocks and found some red backed salamanders! We then journeyed around the trails in the sugarbush to remind us of the spaces we can explore. We walked to the Brook and learned that a trail along the river had been washed out. We walked behind the clubhouse and through the woods too.

Near the end of the day, we wrapped up with a sit spot. This is time for us to reflect in our journals. We can either draw what we are experiencing and seeing now, something interesting that earlier, or a wish for the future too.

To wrapped up our incredible day we shared our favorite part of the day as our adults came to pick us up!