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A student in Guilford Central School Pre-K waiting for birds.
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“The cold months settle into our state as a gradual clarification. Winter holds up objects in high relief — boulders sealed in globes of ice, strawberry-colored blades of grass twisted through the frozen lacework at a pond's edge-for our most careful regard. It invites us to be still and cool, to let one curve, one color truly enter the mind.”
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-John Elder, Reading the Mountains of Home
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Child's Perspective
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“We’re making a snowman as big as we can! Put the snowball in snow in the sun to make the snow stick. The sunny snow is shiny. The shininess makes the snow stick.”
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-Students at North Branch Nature Center Forest Preschool
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Read more about snowball science in our blog next week
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Ideas for Families in Winter
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David Sobel has identified seven play motifs, or recurring play patterns, observing children playing freely in natural areas around the world. Read more here.
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Adventure: Follow tracks through the snow and try to move like that animal - can you bound like a slinky mink, or walk across a log like a balancing bobcat? Look here for inspiration on how to move like different animals.
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Fantasy and Imagination: Make a snow puppet theater and put on a show! Try sculpting snow on a stick for your puppets.
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Animal Allies: Transform yourself into an otter and slide on your belly down a hill. Like us, otters slide again and again down the same slope, just for fun!
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Maps and Paths: Stomp or shovel a maze through the snow. Put a little treasure at the end for others to find.
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Special Places: Revamp a stick fort into a secure beaver lodge to spend the winter, include a vent on top for air exchange and a secret entrance so it’s secure from coyotes!
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Small Worlds: Paint a special rock to be your curled up sleeping chipmunk. Make a special snug den for your chipmunk to spend the winter - make sure there is stored food and a bathroom!
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Hunting and Gathering: Become a gray squirrel and hide away food (for example use: acorns, cones, sunflower seeds) for winter. How many can you remember and find the next day?
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Natural History Mystery
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Try to read this story left in the snowy woods, about five feet from a tree.
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The mystery is unveiled in our blog today.
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Research
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Awe-inspiring encounters with nature can foster social connection, such as increasing attention to others and enhancing tendencies to help others.
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A Place to Ramble
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Explore the woods, pond, and ice formations around Devil’s Gulch in Eden.
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