We wind our way between trails and deer paths, past ripening rosehips and stumps that are good for exploring! Chunks of dry tree with strange worms inside, safe to hold and take for a ride! Let’s place our worm friends back in their home to munch and grow.
We have found a wide open meadow, lined in manzanita bushes, perfect for climbing! Berries still cling to the branches and we reach up to gather the last of summer's sweetness. We notice the grass is pressed flat in big spots, why? Do the deer families sleep together here at night? We are in the deer's home, and we are grateful to be here so we sing our circle time songs to the deer. “Good morning dear earth, and good morning dear sun!” During circle time we sing our names and share our forest school agreements.
Teacher Sarah has brought pine cones with some nuts hidden with their papery wings. We shake them and knock them and pry them out, so tasty! Such a rich source of fats and proteins, quickly devoured by bird and squirrel friends in the forest. Wouldn’t it be fun if we all had them in our backyards?
We teach each other what we know, how to braid and sew and tie a knot! Patience is necessary and can be cultivated. Acorns take time...first to gather, then to shell, then to grind, then to leech, then to dry! We gleefully learn to carefully crack an acorn between stones, how satisfying. Meanwhile other friends explore a dry creek bed, that makes natural rooms and root ladders, with plenty of stones for building.