Living Trails at Woodlawn Nature Center

It was Kids Day as part of Living Trails at Woodlawn Nature Center on Friday. The boys started with a scavenger hunt to find various artifacts inside the Nature Center and outside with the reenactors. This living history weekend gave us a look into life in the past. Various tables were set up inside, showing different foods and artifacts from the time periods represented.

 

Ox Bow Scouting Activity

On our way to my son's scouting activity on Wednesday, it was raining and sunny. I quickly exclaimed, "Look boys--there should be a rainbow out!" They quickly found this in a nearby field. It looked like we could have found the pot of gold, we were so close. It was fun to hear my 4-year-old ask where the rainbow was the next day as we passed the same area. He's developing understanding of these prisms of light!

Nurturing Acorns: Pond Life

In Nurturing Acorns last week, we looked at Pond Life, reading the book In the Small, Small Pond by Denise Fleming. I like her nature related books and find them a good fit for the preschool crew. We talked about things we find in a pond, including frogs, plants, and more. We talked about how ducks don't get wet.



We took a walk through the Woodlawn Nature Center to find animals that might be in or near a pond, like a turtle, swan, duck, fish, and more.

Then we explored the concepts, sink and float, trying several items to determine if they would sink or float.

There is something about putting our hands in water that is engaging!

We revisited this later.

We explored the life cycle of frogs.

On our hike, we had specific items to find, such as a leaf, stick, and more. We brought these back to see if they would sink or float.

The children started testing out their hypotheses.

Did they sink or did they float?

We went fishing during snack time: grapes in jello, topped with goldfish crackers. The children used pretzels with cream cheese to "fish"!

Yum! Yum!

We also blew bubble prints with food coloring and soapy water. 

Interesting artwork!

We sorted and categorized frogs.

We explored our sink and float bin more.

We put "growing" insects in water to see what would happen.

We explored a mini pond! We also visited the pond outside the nature center.

Baby Animals, aka There's a Coon in my Van!

So, we had an interesting experience today . . . as we were leaving Woodlawn Nature Center, someone had a raccoon hanging all over him. We'd just been to Ox Bow County Park last night with raccoons boldly hanging around the trash cans, so we could easily tell how tame this young raccoon was by watching him. We asked what he was doing with the raccoon--he thought it would be a good place to drop it off. He knew someone who found "abandoned" babies and had been raising them. He  had the raccoon for just a few days and it was starting to bite. He could no longer care for it. Knowing there shouldn't be a tame raccoon on the property, we started calling rehabilitators in the area, but didn't have anyone answering calls. I finally called the local county parks system, as I knew they have dealt with this issue in the past. They knew someone who accepted any type of animal and how to properly care for them.

See the box . . . that's not just a box in my van--there's a raccoon in there! I couldn't let the raccoon run wild in the van while driving with my younger children. So, into the box he went!

Positive Organic Living

The other weekend, I took the boys to Positive Organic Living to meet up with the 4-H Club for the POL Open House. I've seen this company out and about different places and read about how they got their start at The Elkhart Truth. Here is another blog interview at The Elkhart Truth with the owners. They had welcoming balloons to help us find the right place--very helpful!

Nature Summer Day Camps Round Up

I've always enjoyed summer day camps. It's fun to get out, meet new people, and do something besides sitting glued to the television. I went to a few as a child, was a counselor for camps as a young adult, and now send my own older children to summer day camps! We're still trying to find the right ones that fit with our schedule. There are several great options in the area!

Elkhart County Parks--My son went to the Nature Explorer camp here last year. He enjoyed being outside each day and building huts! We like Ox Bow and enjoy classes with Miss Krista. This is for ages 7-9.

Wildlife Hike at Ox Bow County Park and Watershed Treasure Hunt #2

Friday evening, we joined a Wildlife Hike at Ox Bow County Park. It was EXCELLENT! And FREE! I like FREE, but also don't mind paying for good nature experiences. The FREE makes it easier to take the whole family of 6. Andy, the naturalist, asked me if I'd be okay with the baby on the hike . . . :-) Cute! The baby goes on hikes all the time (even winter ones!), but I appreciate the concern. The hiking backpack makes it very doable to go on hikes with the little one. I was very lucky and paid $25 at a garage sale down the street about 4 years ago; however, I would pay 5 times or more for the mobility it gives me.