Wolf Awareness Week

To celebrate Wolf Awareness Week, we learned about wolves with a Wolf Discovery Trunk on loan to us 

from the Minnesota DNR.

The trunk contained skulls and fur from wolves, as well 

as several animals that they live with in 

the woods of Minnesota. 

 We discussed the difference between an omnivore, herbivore and carnivore, as well as how to tell 

them apart by looking at their teeth.

 Some of the children made posters to teach 

others a few facts about wolves.

All in all, we had a howling good time!

Aaaa-ooooooo!

Nature Room Animals

In addition to all of the fun things we do in class, we also have two animals that live in the Nature Room.  The children love to feed these animals and ask lots of questions.  

Meet our animals below!

 Magnus, the sunfish, lives in a tank filled with rocks and a few snails.  He eats insects and worms in the wild and is fed meal worms by the children.

 

Below is George, our Madagascar Hissing Cockroach.  He can usually be found hiding underneath a banana peel or the mulch in his cage.  George is a nocturnal animal and sleeps most of the day, but comes out to see what is going on when the room is filled with noise.

 George is a herbivore.  His favorite food is banana peels, but he also enjoys bits of apple. 

Autumn Leaves

We had a week full of sunshine, crisp fall air and colorful leaves!  Our students went on a search for the most beautiful leaf they could find.  Check them out!

Leaf rubbing with crayons was a great way to treasure 

the beautiful leaves that we found!

 Throwing the leaves up in the air and frolicking is also a fun way to enjoy fall leaves!

After searching high and low for the most beautiful leaves, we took the most colorful ones and created artwork that showed off the colors of the leaves.

We layed the leaves onto a piece of paper and covered them with fabric.  Then took a rubber mallet and pounded the colors out of the leaves.

I asked the students why they thought the leaves changed color.  Below are a few of their answers:

"To make more leaves."

"Because it's fall."

"To make it pretty."

"The trees are going to have snow on the branches and it doesn't want the leaves to get cold."

"Does Santa do it when we look away?"

 Even the Gracie, the goat, likes leaves!

Harvest Time

As summer came to a close and autumn began, the gardens proved to be a great spot for a delicious bite to eat!  Raspberries, green peppers, broccoli, tomatoes and zucchini were abundant and ready to be harvested by little hands.

 

 With all of this harvesting going on, we also talked 

about what parts of the plant we eat.  

The answer:  all of them!

We made Whole Plant Salad, a salad using 

different parts of plants.

Whole Plant Salad
1 cup roots (carrots)
1 cup stems (celery)
1 cup leaves (spinich)
1 cup flowers (broccoli)
1 cup fruit (apple)
1/2 cup seeds 
Mix together and add dressing of equal parts miracle whip and sugar and just a splash of vinegar.

Thumbs up!

 We also visited the pumpkin patch to find how big 

the pumpkins were getting.

Then, we made yummy pumpkin dip from real pumpkins!

Pumpkin Dip
8 oz. softened cream cheese
15 oz. pumpkin
2 cups sugar
3 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp. vanilla

 Beat the cream cheese and sugar in a bowl.  Stir in the pumpkin, vanilla and pumpkin pie spice.  Mix until smooth.  Serve with fresh apple and/or pear slices.

Omit the cream cheese for a dairy free version.  Delicious!

Wildlife Safari

This week we set our sights on learning 

how to use binoculars!

Friends were able to join in on a wildlife safari, using their binoculars to seek out animals at Country Day.

In addition to our regular classes, some groups were 

able to help set up for Applepalooza, a family event 

for Pre-2 students.  

Thanks for a fun event!