Good afternoon and gobble gobble to you all, welcome back to another wonderful day in fall! Keep reading to scratch the surface of what life looks like through the eyes of a Knee High Naturalist…
With sun coming out and temperatures rising, we didn’t find it surprising to see so many faces smiling! Our morning started in our secret spot, flipping rocks and logs through the pine covered plot. We discovered worms who liked to squirm and pill bugs (roly-polies) who were so cute we wanted to give them hugs! Today, we even had friends who greeted each other by name and invited them to play forest games. Rakes in hand and shovels in tow, we picked up our area and were ready to go.
As we waddled, we gobbled, showing off our best turkey impressions, excited to learn more during today’s session. Tina the Turkey greeted as we walked in, making us all so excited we didn’t know where to begin! Ms. Miranda read us “Gobble, Gobble” by Cathryn Falwell and we learned about how turkeys use their feet and beaks to find food like seeds. We learned about turkey waddles and snoods, we even learned that they eat rocks to help grind food and funny stomachs called crops! With turkey talk done, we washed our hands and ate snack until we all had none.
Today we all got to make our very own wood cookie turkeys, with googly eyes and beautiful feathers, it was a fun craft to celebrate an amazing day together. Some turkeys had two eyes and some had four, some had so many feathers we couldn’t fit any more! With our gaggle of turkeys lined up on the bench, we shed our jackets and began to dig a trench. Sand play was all the rage today, so we squeeze in a little hike before the Knee Highs led the way.
We found our way to the Mud Kitchen where Ms. Aspen buried plastic worms and insects for us to dig up and inspect. We got out our turkey feet and began to dig, thinking what it would be like to find our meals with toes that aren’t very big. Soon, worms were being pulled up with “bird beaks” (tongs) and beetles were dug loose with the turkey feet in use. It wasn’t long before living bugs were uncovered, a chunky green caterpillar was discovered, but never smothered. More shovels were needed as many holes were being dug and many friends succeeded in creating holes so perfect we wish they could have been seeded!
Our day ended playing in the sun, soaking up the warmth and having so much fun. We emptied our boots, sand pouring out in portions that were not minute; shovels were stacked and bags were re-packed, we all grabbed our turkeys and followed each other’s tracks. Our adults were all here and waiting to pick us up and continue recreating.
Thank you all for a truly terrific and beautiful week with your Knee High Naturalists, this may have been our favorite day of the year yet! Enjoy next week off with your families, we can’t wait to welcome you back on Wednesday, November 29th!
