Family Cycling Adventures

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Family Cycling Adventures

Here’s a great idea for being active and spending time with those you love, even during social distancing in the pandemic.

child riding bicycleThe Ernsting family meet up for family cycling adventures on nearby trails.  Kids, parents and grandparents can all join in.  Pack a delicious lunch or snack as an added enticement for the trip!  Make sure everyone brings water to drink, uses sunscreen and wears a helmet.

Going exploring on bikes relates to several of the Pathway Landmarks:

  • LANDMARK 4 – Visit a favourite outdoor place every week (Age 4-5 years)
  • LANDMARK 9 – Visit an outdoor place that is special to you (Age 6-7 years)
  • LANDMARK 13 – Travel by yourself or with a friend on a familiar route (Age 8-9 years); Let the children help plan the route if you’re working on Landmark 13
  • LANDMARK 14 – Try several kinds of outdoor recreation that don’t need gasoline or electricity (Age 8-9 years)

If you live in the Peterborough region, we’re blessed with wonderful trail systems, both in town and in the county.  We also have great cycling support services.  Get started close to home with the City of Peterborough Trails Map.  Peterborough and the Kawarthas also have some great cycling route maps and other info for keen cyclists.

Keep trips short if you’re travelling with young children, and lengthen the trip as kids build strength and confidence.  Try cycling to a place where kids can explore and play, to break up the trip and give kids a rest.  Sharpen your eyes and ears while you’re travelling to listen for new sounds or look for interesting bugs, birds or animals along the way.

If you need help with repairing or finding a bike, or some guidance on how to cycle safely, contact BIKE, Peterborough’s community bike shop.

BIKE and GreenUP have changed-up their Pedal Power program, normally offered to schools in June.  This year, it’s Pedal Power from Home and is available to families online.  While the available prizes wrap up at the end of June, the excellent cycling workshops are available throughout the summer.  They’re filled with fun activities, bike drills and information focused on road safety and bike handling skills that families can do from home.

Bird of the Month

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Bird of the Month:

Meet the Yellow Warbler!

Yellow WarblerSummer is a perfect time to go searching for new feathered friends. This perky ray of sunshine is quite common in our area in spring and summer. Incredibly, the tiny Yellow Warbler flies all the way from South and Central America every spring to find places to breed in North America. Look for reddish streaks on the breast (males), a black beak and sweet black eyes in an unmarked face. Listen for its song – it sounds like it’s saying “Sweet, sweet, I’m so sweet…”

Yellow warblers feed mostly on insects, and can be found around woodland edges, streamsides and brushy areas.  Look for them in late spring and early summer, as they often start their long migration south during the month of August.  To learn the yellow warbler’s song, check out the Cornell birding website, ‘All About Birds.’  Getting to know the birds around you is part of LANDMARK 12 (Who Else Lives in Your Neighbourhood?).

Don’t be fooled by another common yellow bird – the American Goldfinch.  Male goldfinches are also bright yellow in the summer, but they have a black cap and black wings.  Goldfinches stay here for the winter, and are commonly seen all year at bird feeders.

For a bigger challenge for older children and youth, try reporting your bird sightings to eBird to help track trends in bird populations worldwide.  This is LANDMARK 22  (Become a Citizen Scientist).  Check out the Merlin website to help you learn to identify the birds you see.  Watching birds is great fun, and a good focus for walks outdoors.

Photo by Kyle Dueck

Survey Report Available

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Survey Report Available

At the start of pilot testing, educators, parents and grade 7-8 students completed surveys that assessed attitudes, behaviours and potential barriers to integrating Pathway Landmarks into daily life.  689 surveys were collected from local schools and homes, which provided fantastic local information about children from birth through the elementary grades.

Many thanks to everyone who helped to prepare, complete and assess the Pathway start-up surveys, and especially to Trent University Professor Lisa Nisbet and her assistants in analyzing the results.

Survey results are available in three formats:

Samples of start-up survey learnings:

  • Educators and parents reported an interest in doing more activities outdoors, but need ideas and support to help increase outdoor time
  • Parks and conservation areas were consistently mentioned as favourite places for families to visit

  • Teachers are challenged with limited access to natural areas within walking distance and high costs for bussing; 100% of Grade 5-6 teachers said that easy access to natural areas near homes and schools is very important for their students
  • Outdoor time decreases considerably during winter months in all age groups, both at home and at school; ideas for winter activities and advice on dressing for the weather could help overcome this challenge
  • Older students (grades 7-8) spend considerable sedentary time every week; opportunities to mentor younger students in outdoor activities would build their leadership skills and boost their physical health through increased activity
  • Schools would appreciate help from the community, such as:
    • Mentors to accompany primary students on walks in the neighbourhood
    • Opportunities to meet animals in primary grades
    • Help with growing food or wildlife gardens in grades 3-4
    • Finding nearby renewable energy demonstrations for grades 5-6
    • Finding opportunities for involvement in meaningful community projects in grades 7-8

Wet and Wonderful – A Mud Puddle-and-Pie Activity Guide

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Wet and Wonderful – a Mud Puddle-and-Pie Activity Guide

The season of wet-and-muddy is upon us, and with it, an opportunity to embrace all manners of sensory play, mud-puddle math, nature art and interdisciplinary integration!  Have boots? Will play!

Mud-puddle math:

Mud puddles provide endless hours of sensory fun, and an incredible opportunity for authentic learning!

How deep is the water? How much water is in a really big puddle?  What could it fill? A bucket?  A bathtub? How could we even measure it?!

In her blog Puddle Play – Rethinking the ‘Math Classroom’, Deanna Pecaski McLennan, PhD, elaborates the “measurement, counting, capacity, classification, time and quantity” that can all be explored authentically  in a puddle. This is rich learning where play and adaptive reasoning intersect.

Math can happen anywhere, and outdoors doing something most children love is the perfect place!

Tool tips? Try:

  • Turkey basters  That turkey baster that only gets used twice yearly?! An incredible (and FUN) instrument of transfer and measurement:  squirting distance, volume transfer – comparing between one container and another.
  • Measuring cups
  • Funnels

More math and measurement?! Try Mud Kitchens!

Mud Kitchen:

Cooking up delicious “recipes” in a mud kitchen requires only a few second-hand kitchen implements like muffin tins, metal bowls, collanders and spoons.  This can be on-the-ground immersive play or hands-in-a-sandbox in a wood or brick enclosure (pictured below).  Second-hand stores are inexpensive sources for utensils, and places like the Re-store offer inexpensive sinks and accessories for more elaborate builds!

Frozen Sun Catchers

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Frozen Sun Catchers

A recipe for easy mid-winter magic

January 23, 2019

Ingredients

  • Found nature objects – Twigs, leaves, berries, pine cones
  • Container to freeze the water in – aluminum pie plates are perfect!
  • Water
  • Something to hang them: twine, yarn, ribbon
  • Freezing temperatures

Steps

  1. Lay out your nature objects in the base of your container for freezing
  2. Lay the twine amidst the nature objects with a large loop or two loose ends hanging out – this will be your hang or tie 
  3. Place your creations on a flat outdoor surface where they can freeze undisturbed (window sill, picnic table, etc.)
  4. Slowly pour in water until the container is full and ensure your twine/ribbon are still submerged
  5. Set the outdoor temperature to below freezing 😉 **freeze overnight for best results

Hang this ice art from a tree branch in a sunny spot where the sun will shine through and slowly melt it away, transforming your creation throughout the day.

Tips

  • play with colours, textures, patterns… Eating oranges?  Add visual a-peel with pieces of rind or slices interspersed 
  • Make minis in ice cube trays
  • Fancy a rainbow catcher? Add food coloring
  • Use bundt pans for a frozen wreath

 

Warning: This recipe will quickly become a staple on your nature crafting menu!

 

Parent and Educator Survey Results

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The Results Are In

Pathway Parent and Educator Surveys

January 23, 2019 – Three cheers to all the teachers, parents and students who completed surveys for the Pathway pilot sites.  What a lot of great information you provided!  We received 684 surveys that help us learn what’s important to you and the challenges in your life.  We were impressed by the thought and effort shown by the responses.  
 
Each age group had its own survey, ranging from preschool to grade eight.  We wanted to know how many of the Pathway “Landmarks” are already part of your lives, how familiar you are with our local community, and what barriers you face in including more outdoor time in your lives.  We’re still compiling and assessing this wonderful wealth of information, but here are a few tidbits to share, based on responses from the primary grades: 

  1. Parents shared lots of great ideas for outdoor activities for each season; teachers find a much bigger challenge in getting outdoors with their classes, with fewer ideas for larger groups of children. 
  2. For parents, the biggest barrier to getting outside is lack of time; for teachers, it’s lack of resources, ideas for outdoor activities, and support. 
  3. Parents indicated relatively low worries about safety when their families are outdoors; teachers are very worried about safety issues (liability concerns are huge). 
  4. Teachers love to use natural areas in their schoolyards, if they’re available.  They find it difficult to take classes off the school property. 
  5. Families love to spend time in familiar places, especially family cottages, farms or their own backyards.  They also love local parks, especially if they’re easy to get to. 
  6. Most-mentioned favourite public places include Riverview Park and Zoo, Jackson Park, Millbrook Trails, Rogers Cove and Peterborough’s trail system. 
  7. Teachers and parents want IDEAS for outdoor games, nature art, crafts and songs. 
  8. The majority of teachers and parents said that their interest in the outdoors was greater than their knowledge – many felt they didn’t know much about nature. 
  9. Most teachers and parents said that their students/kids were very interested in the natural world. 
  10. Teachers and parents who completed our surveys all agreed that physical activity, outdoor play, and play in nature are very important for children. 

Based on these preliminary responses, you’ll find some ideas for nature games, crafts and other activities on this website.

Cold, Wet, Muddy and Fun

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Cold, Wet, Muddy and Fun

January 23, 2019 – Our Cold, Wet, Muddy and Fun! workshop with Sue Ferren was so true to name!  Not only did we experience first-hand all of the chilly temps, rain, mud and snow within the span of our Saturday morning together, but we enjoyed a rich morning of learning, sharing and FUN.  Sue revealed the magic that can be found when we courageously bundle our wee ones and venture out, whatever the weather! 

All 15 folks who attended, including 2 wee ones, were led on a clear pathway to providing the invitation, clothing and materials necessary for children to explore, create and engage in any weather.  Sue shared her wealth of knowledge, beautifully curated resources, an enviable nature-themed library, and a treasure trove of hands-on activities – both indoor and out – for us to explore.  She also shared the challenges and barriers we know can keep the most intrepid explorers from venturing out, and ways to make that challenge more manageable and more fun.


In the warmth of the Camp Kawartha Environment Centre we brainstormed Barrier Breakers, models of how to bring nature in, loose parts of every description, and shared stories of mishaps and magic-making with wee ones in all weather.  Then we were invited outdoors on a beautiful story walk with the laminated pages of In the Snow – Who’s Been Here.  The story trail wove us through the cedar grove and opened to a clearing lovingly spread with activity centres showcasing simple and powerful activities to spark early years engagement.  Mud kitchens, rain-filled tube mazes, tarp painting, and making nature-found masterpieces within empty ornate frames – all ready for hours of exploration.  The wee ones who had been enjoying the morning under the watchful care of Jumping Mouse’s Martine Cleary, joined us to explore these centres.  It was immediately obvious that with a few thoughtful materials, comfortable all-weather clothing, and adults willing to venture out, cold, wet and muddy are Fun!

Want Inspirations and Ideas for venturing out this Winter? Join us Saturday February 9th for Wonder-Full Winter:  Your Toolkit for Nature Crafting and Outdoor Play with Children.