Today in the forest, we heard and saw several varieties of wildlife. When we first arrived, the children heard the sound of birds. We gathered at the fire pit and talked about what we could hear. “Birdies,” a child said and pointed up at the trees. “In sky.” Part of the group went with an educator to explore down the path and part of the group stayed by the firepit to walk around in the snow. “Chickendee dee,” a child said.

While sitting near the pit, they saw a squirrel jumping through the branches. A repetitive tapping sound could also be heard. “What is it?” a child asked. The child lifted their head back to look up. “There’s a birdie?” they asked while another child said “birdie, birdie.”
“What kind of bird do you think it is?” the educator asked. “There,” the child replied. “Tap tap tap,” a child said. “Yeah, tap tap,” another child confirmed.

 

A loud noise was hear by all of the children once the groups came back together. The children looked in the direction of the noise and saw a flock of Canadian geese fly over the forest. “Those big birds?” a child commented and they flew over. “Yeah, big birds,” another child replied.

The children spotted a bird a few trees away. An educator noticed that it was a woodpecker. The woodpecker then flew over to the tree the children and educators were gathered under and they were able to watch the woodpecker in the tree. An educator asked the children “What does the woodpecker like to eat?” One child answered “pizza!” Another child answered “french fries!”. The bird tapped on the tree a few times and then flew away. “All gone,” a child commented.

So What?

-Experienced navigating through the forest with the snow being deeper than they are used to
-Engaged the senses of hearing and sight to discover the animals in the area
-Hypothesized about the food that a woodpecker eats
-Verbalized the sound of the chickadees and the woodpeckers with their voices

 

 

 

 

 

Now What?

-Continue to research the types of birds we hear in the forest; are they the same sounds we can hear in the playground?
-Bring the wildlife cards that contain the footprints and general information about each animal; can we track any footprints in the snow?
-Listen to the sounds birds make; are they loud or quiet? Familiar to us?
-Introduce “sit spots” to encourage the children to listen to their surroundings and talk about what they hear; beginning to curate mindfulness and meditation practices