Middle Years (6 to 9 years)
Fresh Air and Exercise
Landmark 11 (Celebrate each Season)
Getting used to working and schooling from home has had us inside much more than usual. This weekend was all about getting fresh air and exercise through a favourite family activity: sledding! The weather was perfect both days to get lots of rides down the hill. Afterwards, we all enjoyed delicious hot chocolate with marshmallows 🙂
The Nature Nuts – Jan 9, 2021
Flying Friends
Landmark 12 (Nearby Plants and Animals)
Working and schooling from home this month has allowed us to have constant watch over bird seed that we sprinkle on our back deck each day. We have had so much fun identifying the animals that have been making regular visits to our house including chickadees, dark-eyed juncos, northern cardinals, blue jays, squirrels, nuthatches, and what we believe to be a group of sparrows, common redpolls and goldfinches. Many virtual meetings have been interrupted by the excitement over our daily visit from a small flock of cardinals (3 males, 2 females) or a blue jay’s noisy visit.
The Nature Nuts – Jan 14, 2021
Winter bird watch
Landmark 12 (Nearby Plants and Animals)
Our family has been really interested in discovering the birds that have stayed in our neighbourhood over the winter. While playing in the backyard today, we noticed how many birds were flying around and calling from the trees. We quickly packed up a backpack with binoculars and a notebook and took a walk around the neighbourhood to record how many birds we could find. My daughter kept a tally of the different kinds of birds we saw and heard- including a number of chickadees, bluejays and crows.
The Nature Nuts – Jan 2, 2021
Forest Drive
Landmark 9 (Special Outdoor Place 2X/Month)
Going for a drive – in the forest. This old car was on a friends property – it brought lots of joy to the driver and his sidekick.
The Walmsley Five – Dec 20, 2020
Downhill Fun
Landmark 9 (Special Outdoor Place 2X/Month)
Tobogganing! Lots of snow means lots of fun – going up the hills was tricky for the youngest but he just followed the older ones up, and up and up.
The Walmsley Five – Dec 27, 2020
Circle of Life
Landmark 12 (Meet Neighbourhood Friends)
The Circle of Life – getting to know animals is important at all stages of life. This possum was found at the end of its life and the boys were very interested in examining it.
The Walmsley Five – Dec 26, 2020
Silly Snowman
Landmark 11 (Celebrate each Season)
We’ve been watching the weather all week waiting for the perfect conditions to make a snowman and today was the day! We got a new snowman decorating kit for Christmas and were really excited to try it out. We worked together to take all the snow in our yard in order to make the biggest snowballs that we could. We think the end result is pretty silly 🙂
The Nature Nuts – Dec 30, 2020
Animal Tracks
Landmark 12 (Nearby Plants and Animals)
The new snow that fell overnight made the perfect excuse to look for animal prints! This morning we headed out to a nearby nature area in search of who (or what) had been making tracks before we got there. It didn’t take long before we found signs of fox, mouse, dog, bird and squirrel prints through the snow. Our favourite part was following the prints as far as we could to see where the animal had been heading.
The Nature Nuts – Dec 29, 2020
Look out!
Landmark 12 (Nearby Plants and Animals)
Today we headed to a favourite hiking spot with a lookout tower to try out a recent gift- binoculars! We used them to watch the friendly chickadees flying by and to see the different plants that were growing around the large creek.
The Nature Nuts – Dec 22, 2020
Trail Tracks
Landmark 11 (Celebrate Each Season)
Today we celebrated the fresh new snowfall by exploring the nature areas around our neighbourhood by sled. Everything around us was so peaceful and quiet as we made new tracks along the trail and followed ones we found along the way. We also made sure to stop many times to climb the big ‘mountains’ of snow that the plows had made.
The Nature Nuts – Dec 26, 2020
Edible Garlands
Landmark 11 (Celebrate each Season)
To celebrate the winter season and decorate outdoors, we made garland out of edible items for our wintering friends in the woods. Items used:
Cheerios, raisins, raisins, peanuts, air popped popcorn, orange and pomegranate peel (shaped with cookie cutters)
The Chickadees – Dec 16, 2020
Muddy Puddles
Landmark 11 (Celebrate Each Season)
Our weekend hike was all about mud! The kids had a blast squishing in huge mud puddles along our route. The recent warm and wet weather meant there were lots of muddy parts to choose from!
The Nature Nuts – Nov 29, 2020
Climbable Cedar
Landmark 9 (Special Outdoor Place 2X)
We have been regularly visiting a conservation area close to our house for a full year now. We have explored all the trails and noticed the changes throughout all four seasons. During each hike, the big highlight is always the many climbable cedar trees along the route. The kids eagerly run down the path to search out some of their favourites (which they have named!). No hike is complete without visiting the ‘horse tree’, ‘the sloth tree’ and a group of trees lovingly referred to as ‘the playhouse’.
The Nature Nuts – Nov 8/20
Meadows and Milkweed
Landmark #12 (Nearby Plants and Animals)
Today we went to a nearby conservation area and had so much fun exploring the different trails. While the forest trails are always fun, by far the favourite route to go this time of year is along the meadow trails for one simple reason: milkweed! Today we found the milkweed pods had all burst open and the seeds were spilling out. We spent a long time gathering handfuls of milkweed seeds to blow into the wind!
The Nature Nuts – Nov 7/20
Chickadee Neighbours
Landmark #12 (Nearby Plants and Animals)
We have made friends with our Chickadee neighbours. Rasi has sat patiently and quietly out on the porch each day with a handful of seeds to share with her new friends!
The Chickadees – Oct 29/20
Natural Patterns
Landmark #11 (Celebrate Each Season)
Took a fall walk and with fallen leaves, new trails gave way to explore! Fall leaves also assisted with math homework displaying patterns. After our fall harvest, we collected seeds either for eating, or to save for next years planting. We also went on an adventure somewhere we’ve never been before, to see the fall colours.
The Chickadees – Oct 29/20
Corn Husk and Harvests!
Landmark #6 (Play In Nature 2x A Week)
We went to a corn maze, learning all about corn and harvesting, walking through the maze, listening for birds and the wind.
The Nature Ninjas – Oct 12/20
Special Places
Landmark #9 (Special Outdoor Place)
Found a new favourite place to explore… WHEN SAFE, during our screen breaks. Secret place right in town. We love taking walks along the water between our online classes!
Chickadees – Sept 17/20
Dress to impress
Landmark #11 (Celebrate Each Season)
In celebration of summer blooms we designed nature clothes from our flowers!
Chickadees – August 31/20
From Above
Landmark #11 (Celebrate Each Season)
When you’re a drone pilot, you get to see the kids playing from a whole new angle, enjoying these last days of summer.
Super Ninjas – Aug 30/20
Kiwi Caterpiller
Landmark #15 (Garden, birdfeeder, insects, etc)
We found a really big grasshopper at the beach, so we named it Kiwi and made a little “cottage” for him to hang out at!
The Chickadees – Aug 27/20
Paddling Fun
Landmark #13 (Travel a Familiar Route)
Got together with some friends for social distancing paddling fun!! Higher water levels allowed us to expore more areas!!!
We found a lot of cool things and cleaned out some litter in the water as we went also!
The Chickadees – Aug 26/20
Milkweed and Caterpillers!
Landmark #12 (Nearby Plants and Animals)
We were on our nature walk, with our dogs, to get more milkweed for a Caterpillar. Our poor pup, Chef, had a run in with a porcupine!!! Too many quills for us to take out ourselves. We had to bring her to the Emergency Vet Clinic. He’s ok!
The Chickadees – Aug 27/20
Smoosh for Art!
Landmark #8 (Nature Art)
I collected some flowers, dirt and leaves put them in bowls and added a little bit of water then with a spoon I mixed and mushed. The one that worked the best was yellow flowers and the dirt and light purple flowers. To make the rest of the flowers work I kind of had to smoosh them on the paper. The art turned out to be water colours! Everything I used except the paper and the bowls and spoons were from the outside world! I used one tsp of warm water each bowls of colours but for the dirt I added water and mixed it until it looked like real brown paint.
Nature Ninjas – July 29/20
River route
Landmark #13 (Travel a familiar route)
We decided to take a closer look at the stream that we walk by all the time. The boys saw small fish and lots of water insects.
The Super Ninjas – Aug 28/20
Yum!
Landmark #10 (Plant, tend and harvest something you can eat)
Helped plant, grow and harvest the community garden as well as our own for vegetables and sunflowers to share with our family, friends and community.
The Chickadees – Aug 29/20
Sssssssnakes!
Landmark #15 (Garden, birdfeeder, insects etc.)
I was in the Kawartha Highlands walking when I saw the leaves moving. I looked down and saw a Garter snake. I followed the snake for 3 minutes and it slithered in a bush and climbed up a branch. I caught it. I knew they didn’t bite. I liked that it curled its tail around my thumb. I showed my sister and convinced my mom to touch it.
NatureNinjas – August 19/20
Growing food
Landmark #10 (Grow and Eat Food)
Has helped to maintain and harvest our garden, as well as the community garden.
The Chickadees – August 26/20
Camping
Landmark #24 (Design a Healthy Home)
Camped out in the backyard for almost 3 weeks! Tons of fresh air and hung clothes to dry on the line as often as we could.
The Chickadees – August 25/20
Exercising without Electricity
Landmark #14 (Outdoor Activities without Gas/Electricity)
We rode our bikes, played tag with our dog, ziplined in our backyard, jumped on the trampoline… alot! We made an obstacle course in our backyard with buckets, pool noodles, and old big spools. We had to be the quickest to get through the obstacle course.
NatureNinjas – July 24/20
Backyard Garden
Landmark #10 (Grow and Eat Food)
Grew our own tomatoes and peppers in our small backyard garden. It was our very first time having a garden. We had to watch it each day, water it and make sure it got nutrients. We learned about ripeness from all the colours of the tomatoes and they tasted sweet and delicious. Yum!
Jackson Family – July 14/20