All Middle Years – Groups

Landmark 11 (Celebrate Each Season)

The children were very interested in expanding their colouring the snow once again the next day. I was making the bottles at first but we got together as a group and discussed that they would be very capable of mixing their own. We set up a table and discussed how much food colouring you actually need. So, we measured it by a cap full to pour into the bottle and use the water jug to fill the bottle up. The children were able to pick their own colours and mix colours together to try and make a new one or see what colour it may have made after mixing and pouring onto the snow. They were doing very well mixing the food colouring and pouring the water in by being very concentrated, focused, and careful. Cody, Harvey, and Easton were experimenting with the colours they mixed and were pouring them down a ramp and wanted to see what colour was going to be created at the bottom when they all mixed as one in the snow, you can see the colours changing on the ramp as it went down. They were given a challenge and a choice if they wanted to participate in creating and drawing a picture in the snow. Audrey created a ladder. Harvey drew a portal to another world. Easton drew a door to another planet. Olivia created a couch with sea shells and fishies. Ava drew a snowman. They tried to cover every single snow bank/hill, in our playground, so it has become a colourful snow playland!

Strath Maclean Child Care Centre – Junior After school – January 31, 2023

Landmark 12 (Nearby Plants and Animals)

We learned about birds that stay in our area for the winter. Then we made birdfeeders from pinecones and hung them in our outdoor learning space. We also used a store-bought feeder and filled it with seeds to attract birds. Now we will keep checking to see if any birds will come.

Millbrook South Cavan Gr 1 – January 27, 2023

Landmark 11 (Celebrate Each Season)

Today our trail walk presented many opportunities to explore a few of our current interests and ongoing inquiries. We began by sliding down our back hill (belly sliding is our favourite outdoor task right now) before running alongside Mollie and Daisy. Snow went flying as we went racing! This also left prints in the fresh powder. As Mollie and Daisy made their own trails we followed their tracks. Prints are something we are fascinated by right now, and we have our Ontario Tracks book out by our birdfeeder back inside.
Mollie and Daisy were not the only ones to stray from the trail. The friends repeated the new trail they have been forging to the apple tree. I love watching my friends interact and explore their natural world so effortlessly and freely. They embrace the trees and snow with open arms and nature greets them warmly.

Babbling Brook Daycare – January 27, 2023

Landmark 15 (Garden, birdfeeder, insects etc.)

Today the grade 1’s made bird feeders and hung them around their playground! They are excited to see who comes to visit! We wondered if we would see birds or even squirrels on the feeder! It also inspired other classes to make some feeders too!

Roseneath CPS SK/1 – January 20, 2023

Landmark 14 (Five New Outdoor Activities)

Harvey and Cole asked to have a frisbee out of the shed when we were grabbing the sleds, shovels and other items. They said, “we want to see if we can throw a frisbee in the cold air, and practice throwing a frisbee”. They actually did really well with throwing and catching the frisbee once they got the rhythm of it and started throwing in line with the other person trying to catch. They were able to position themselves to try and catch it or just jump up high instead of running a distance to go pick the frisbee up. When the frisbee did land in the snow the observed that the frisbee blended in because it was white so when it landed they had to try and find the frisbee as it was camouflaged on the ground. Next, they decided that would be the next game of whoever could find the frisbee first, they would race to find it after it was thrown into the snow.

Strath Maclean Child Care Centre – Junior After school – January 20, 2023

Landmark 5 (Garden/Care for Animals)

We adopted a hedge hog for our class pet!

Roseneath CPS SK/1 – January 9, 2023

Landmark 12 (Nearby Plants and Animals)

While we were outside, the children found some huge paw prints. They had theories about what might have made the prints – some said a bug dog, and some said a bear! They tried to follow the tracks around the yard to see where the animal might have gone!

Junior Afterschool – Strath-Maclean – 01/05/2023

Landmark 11 (Celebrate Each Season)

With the snow and ice around, the children have been interested in arctic animals. We’ve read some books, and have a wintery small-world play available. Noah and Hunter started setting it up and playing with it. They started organizing the animals into families and put them into their habitats. The penguin even got an ice slide!

Junior Afterschool – Strath-Maclean – January 6, 2023

Landmark 11 ( Celebrate Each Season)

To celebrate the winter solstice we went outside at noon to notice casting the longest shadow of the year. Students lined up with the shadow of the top of their heads touching the school wall. We will use this same location and photograph to compare our shadows throughout the year.

Millbrook South Cavan Gr 1/2 – December 21, 2022

Landmark 9 (Special Outdoor Place 2X/Month)

As we visited one of our favourite places outdoors I captured some photos of students engaging in creative play. I was surprised to see how the trees were a part of their experience in many different ways. From noticing and wondering about holes in trees to relaxing, getting stuck between two trees, and enjoying a conversation with a friend.

Millbrook South Cavan Gr 1/2 – December 15, 2022

Landmark 15 (Garden, birdfeeder, insects etc.)

After we read “If You Take a Mouse to the Movies”, we decided to string our own popcorn! We added cranberries and hung them up near our butterfly garden to feed the birds and squirrels!
Room 7 – December 15, 2022

Landmark 11 (Celebrate Each Season)

Our class has been observing nature as it transitioned through the fall season. Throughout the past 3 1/2 months we have asked questions, conducted experiments, explored the school yard, collected nature items, and gone on weekly walks to dive deeper into the changes of nature around us. To showcase this learning, we started an inquiry bulletin board in our classroom which highlighted our fall questions and discoveries. Being the last day of fall, it was bittersweet to take down our board, but we are looking forward to filling it again with new winter observations.
Highland Heights Gr 1/2 – December 20, 2022

Landmark 3 (Exercise Senses Daily)

Recently our class has been reflecting on the Land Acknowledgment that is read during announcements each morning. While exploring a favourite trail, our class stopped to brainstorm what the land meant to them. After pausing to use their 5 senses, students filled out a page which recorded what the land looked, sounded and felt like to them.

Highland Heights Gr 1/2 – December 9, 2022

Landmark 1 (Explore Together Weekly)

Our class has been going on weekly walks along a nearby walking path. During this particular walk, we brought along clipboards and rulers to tie in our math unit on measurement. In partners, students found nature items listed on a piece of paper and used their ruler to measure how long the item was in centimeters.

Highland Heights Gr 1/2 – December 7, 2022

Landmark 14 (Five New Outdoor Activities)

Our class recently went to the Environment Centre for our first field trip of the year. We had the best time and the students are already asking when we can go back. In the morning we got to explore around the centre and learned how to make little worms out of wool which we got to take home. The afternoon had us playing outside and learning how to find signs of animals. While exploring around the yard and adjacent forest, we found signs of dog, deer and coyote.

Highland Heights Gr 1/2 – December 16, 2022

Landmark 11 (Celebrate Each Season)

Fall: A low attendance day meant we changed it up. We spent time outdoors completing co-operative activities. After that, we headed into the kitchen for some pumpkin-based baking. Don’t worry… we shared!

Highland Heights Gr 7/8 – October 6, 2022

Landmark 9 (Special Outdoor Place 2X/Month)

We ventured out to our nearby forest again but this time we had a fresh snowfall. Once we reached the forest we asked the children, “what can you see that is different from the last time we were here?”. They answered, “SNOW”. We found a spot on a couple of logs to sit down and enjoy snack before playing. They were so excited to explore the forest in the snow. Georgia and Scarlett started making a snowman and gathered some sticks for the arms. Noah was using two medium size sticks as ski poles and was pretending to ski down the trail. A couple of children found tree forts and was sitting, playing and hiding inside them. They were exploring gross motor skills by climbing and sliding down a tree stump, and sitting at the top.

Junior Afterschool – Strath-Maclean – December 16, 2022

Landmark 13 (Travel a Familiar Route)

On Friday we walked our usual route to the forest we like to visit! We were noticing all the differences on our walk from the last time – the leaves were all missing, and there was a lot of snow on the ground!

Junior Afterschool – Strath-Maclean – December 16, 2022

Landmark 14 (Five New Outdoor Activities)

Max, Tyson, and A used shovels to clear a path through the fresh snow that was falling last night! They started just creating paths, but then added more and more routes and turned it into a maze for the other children to find their way through!

Junior Afterschool – Strath-Maclean – December 15, 2022

Landmark 11 (Celebrate Each Season)

We love that we can watch the sunset from our yard every day in the winter season! We’ve noticed how much sooner it gets dark, and we’ve noticed stars and the moon coming out. The children have commented that the sunset seems so much prettier in the winter!
Last night, a lot of our group asked me if I would share pictures of our sunset with their families. We had a beautiful evening to play in yesterday, and stayed outside for almost the whole evening!
We admired all the different colors and had theories about the clouds that were moving through it. Some of the clouds looked like tornadoes or jets, others made shapes like “t” and roads going into the sunset. We wondered if we followed the cloud roads if we could get to the sun!

Junior Afterschool – Strath-Maclean – December 14, 2022

Landmark 11 (Celebrate Each Season)

Christmas freeze dance in the snow! We love our dance parties, and with the snow on the ground, we feel even more like celebrating!

Junior Afterschool – Strath-Maclean – December 14, 2022

Landmark 14 (Five New Outdoor Activities)

Tis the season to start baking! We prepared sugar cookies to bake in the oven and the very first day that we baked them, we gathered around the table and placed them on the cookie sheet inside but the next day we decided to try something different and we prepared our cookies by cutting them and placing them on the cookie sheet outside! The children were excited because they said they’ve never done baking outside. The children thought it was really fun that we could make cookies outside so we gathered around the picnic table and prepared our cookies for baking in the oven. The children were practicing using a knife by cutting the dough into the small slices they were so focused when it was their turn and were very careful and then placed the cookie on the cookie sheet that they cut.

Junior Afterschool – Strath-Maclean – December 14, 2022

Landmark 13 (Travel a Familiar Route)

Christmas spirit has arrived and the children were interested in writing their letters to Santa, they did so well trying to spell out the words on their own and writing them out. Many children wanted to add A Merry Christmas to Santa in their letters. Once everyone completed one, we ventured out along the route that takes us to our nearby forest but we stopped midway at the mailbox instead to mail our letters to the North Pole! Reid had a theory that “a skinny man wearing a jet pack with rocket boots would mail our letters to Santa.” Other children thought elves would be mailing our letter! After mailing our letter and we were walking back to the centre, Cole spoke up and said, “oh! I just saw our letter fly by in the sky and now it’s at the North Pole!”

Junior Afterschool – Strath-Maclean – December 2, 2022

Landmark 8 (Nature Art Weekly)

We collected pine cones in the fall and today we made Christmas tree ornaments.

Highland Heights LLSA – December 8, 2022

Landmark 18 (Natural Area Booklet, Blog, or video)

Grade 5 students have been learning about the relationships that exist between Indigenous peoples and their traditional territories. They have been reflecting on their own appreciation for the land. Students wrote personal land acknowledgments as a way to celebrate the land and express gratitude to those who have lived and worked on this land historically and presently. Their next step is to share their land acknowledgments on the morning announcements.

Highland Heights Gr 5 – December 5, 2022

Landmark 11 (Celebrate Each Season)

Snow has begun falling with the winter season coming upon us and the children absolutely love playing in the freshly fallen snow. While we are out playing in the snow, snowflakes will start falling from the sky and the children will stick their tongues out hoping snowflakes will land on their tongues. The first few snowflakes inspired a spontaneous song flash mob, with everyone singing Jingle Bells. Since the children have been continuously expressing their joy for winter, we set up a painting activity where they could create winter paintings of their own. We put out white, light blue, dark blue and a light grey colour with paint brushes to encourage them to come and paint. Based on the colour scheme every child intentionally chose to paint a winter scene or picture, and what the children constructed was absolutely amazing. The pictures that were painted included, “themselves playing in the snow, snowflakes falling, snowy hills, a snowstorm, a snowy farm, snowman, throwing snow, grey skies with falling snow, winter colour patterns and a house with their Christmas lights shining”

Junior Afterschool – Strath-Maclean – November 30, 2022

Landmark 11 (Celebrate Each Season)

In Visual Art we have been exploring the artwork of various artists. Today we explored the art of Andy Goldsworthy and then went outside to create our own Andy Goldsworthy-inspired art. The children had great fun creating art with snow and excitedly showed off their creative art pieces.

Queen Mary PS Gr 3/4 – November 22, 2022

Landmark 11 (Celebrate Each Season)

The preschool children enjoyed the new-fallen snow! They used their bodies to make snow angels. Once they were done moving their arms and legs they were excited to see the imprint they left behind.

Peterborough Daycare – November 21, 2022

Landmark 14 (Five New Outdoor Activities)

Warsaw Outdoor Education Center- searching for animal prints/homes/sounds/droppings. Playing habitat games.

R.F. Downey Gr 4 – November 22, 2022

Landmark 11 (Celebrate Each Season)

Today we began learning about natural structures. We talked about the difference between man-made structures and natural structures. We also discussed what natural materials are. Then, we headed outside to utilize the natural materials that winter had to offer. We used snow, sand, sticks, and leaves to replicate some of the natural structures that we learned about in class. We had dens, nests, and even skeletons made out of snow and leaves.

Queen Elizabeth Gr 2/3 – November 21, 2022

Landmark 11 (Celebrate Each Season)

Our group was so excited about the first snow! We set up a crafting invitation, with scrapbooking paper, sequins, pompoms etc, and invited the children to celebrate the snow by making snowflakes. The finished works were incredible – we enjoyed seeing how children cut feathery edges on the paper or added glitter dots to portray the fluffy, sparkly snow!

SMCC Senior Afterschool – November 11, 2022

Landmark 9 (Special Outdoor Place)

Today, we visited the forested area behind our school. We walked along the path and used our senses to notice nature. We heard birds and smelled the “crispness” of the air. We talked about the changing of the season and took pictures of the things we thought showed signs of fall and winter.

Highland Heights LLSA – November 15, 2022

Landmark 11 (Celebrate Each Season)

A group of our children decided to break out into a spontaneous singing flash mob after they observed snowflakes falling from the sky and were so excited about it and started singing Jingle bells and it grabbed the attention of other children within the play yard and they decided to join in too.

Junior Afterschool – Strath-Maclean – November 15, 2022

Landmark 11 (Celebrate Each Season)

With the clocks falling back we continue to stay outside for our entire program and we have the luxury of watching the sunset and have become very interested in watching the sunsets and having discussions about all the different colours we see and once the sun goes down trying to find the location of the moon if we can’t see it right away. Some nights, on a full moon they talk about playing under the moonlight and how bright it is. We point out all the different stars we can see and try to find the brightest one in the sky. We have also added lanterns to our program because they absolutely enjoy playing under the moonlight and playing in the dark.

Junior Afterschool – Strath-Maclean – November 10, 2022

Landmark 14 (Five New Outdoor Activities)

Max sat in the field and started to build a mini fire using sticks he had found and broken in half. He placed small sticks in the centre and used two other sticks to try to light them by rubbing them together.

Junior Afterschool – Strath-Maclean – 11/10/2022

Landmark 11 (Celebrate Each Season)

Today we went outside and did the “Colours Around Us Activity”. We coloured in the colour wheel and then went outside in the schoolyard to find natural materials to match the colours on our wheels.

Westmount Gr 1 – October 26, 2022

Landmark 22 (Citizen Science)

We raised, tagged, and released 8 monarch butterflies. We also submitted a spreadsheet of our data to Monarch Watch.

Edmison Heights Gr 5 – November 3, 2022

Landmark 9 (Special Outdoor Place 2X/Month)

We went across the street from our daycare to visit the green space and community garden. We gave the children magnifying glasses and binoculars to examine what they saw closely. We noticed that most of the garden had been cleaned up to make compost but there were also plants still growing. The compost was sorted into three steps: collections, compost happening, and ready to use. The children were really excited to point out what they were seeing and touching. We collected a few items to take back and share with the other children. This might be a new favourite spot that we can check back in with during all seasons!

Peterborough Daycare – November 4, 2022

Landmark 9 (Special Outdoor Place 2X/Month)

Today we visited our favourite part of our schoolyard, the courtyard. In the courtyard, we played animal games: camouflage, and noodle blob tag. In our noodle game, animals were trying to “tag” the things they need to keep their species alive: food, water, habitat and love.

Queen Elizabeth Gr 2/3 – November 2, 2022

Landmark 15 (Garden, birdfeeder, insects etc.)

Scarlett and C found a worm in the yard. They were so excited to make it their friend but needed space for it to stay for the day. They remembered learning about worms last year and knew that they lived in the soil, and ate dead plants and leaves. They set up a nice temporary home for the worm so that it could visit with us during the day, and then let it go back to its home in the evening.

Junior Afterschool – Strath-Maclean – November 1, 2022

Landmark 14 (Five New Outdoor Activities)

Cole, Reid, Harvey and R came up with this amazing idea about using the rakes and shovels to create a maze throughout one side of our yard. They were brainstorming together about where to start the maze and how much ground they wanted to cover for the size of the maze they wanted. They worked hard with clearing pathways from leaves, rocks, and pine needles. Once their hard work was done they started to run through their maze but they couldn’t find the end of the maze, they couldn’t remember where the finish line was!

Junior Afterschool – Strath-Maclean – October 10, 2022

Landmark 21 (Special Outdoor Place 2X/Month)

We visited the creek in a nearby forest during PA Day on Monday. It was a ton of fun to float leaves down the river, build bridges and dams, throw rocks and pebbles to watch the splash, and explore the water together! If we could, we’d stay out all day!

Junior Afterschool – Strath-Maclean – October 24, 2022

Landmark 11 (Celebrate Each Season)

We have been bringing rakes out to play in the leaves, but on a rainy day, we discovered how much fun it is to rake mud puddles! The mud and water would go flying, and we could make the puddles even bigger!

Junior Afterschool – Strath-Maclean – October 25, 2022

Landmark 9 (Special Outdoor Place 2X/Month)

We visited our outdoor learning space, explored new trails, and took a photo so we can compare how we and our space have changed over the last few months (seasonal and aging). We also noticed how we felt when we were outside!

Roseneath CPS SK/1 – October 27, 2022

Landmark 15 (Garden, birdfeeder, insects etc.)

We found a fuzzy caterpillar in our yard and we’re very interested! We brought out our terrarium to investigate it more closely. The children discussed what kind of home to build for the caterpillar and what it might need to have a safe, comfortable environment. At the end of the day, we let the caterpillar go again so that it would be able to find its real home!

Junior Afterschool – Strath-Maclean – October 25, 2022

Landmark 13 (Travel a Familiar Route)

We ventured out on our familiar route by walking to a nearby forest that has a creek that we can explore in!

Junior Afterschool – Strath-Maclean – October 24, 2022

Landmark 14 (Five New Outdoor Activities)

We went on a fall walk with a focus on looking for colourful plants. The collection of plants was taken apart into smaller pieces. They were encouraged to plan their picture first. Students were then given a piece of air-drying clay to flatten into an oval/circle shape. They placed a hole in the top to allow it to be hung by a string. The following day we made wrapping paper by making a design on a plain piece of paper using our art knowledge of making a variety of lines. The keepsakes were somewhat delicate and needed the safety of being wrapped to make it home in their backpacks. Students really enjoyed creating and wrapping their keepsakes and it was fun to hear who they planned on giving the fall ‘gift’ to.

Millbrook South Cavan Gr 1/2 – October 14, 2022

Landmark 11 (Celebrate Each Season)

“Tree Magic” Prior to meeting virtually with a Park Ranger we went on a leaf hunt and each student had a chance to choose a variety of leaves. We took time to put the leaves in order of colour, and noticed the different/similar shapes and colours. During the presentation, students learned trees use water, air, and sun to make food. Then we reviewed how during the fall there is less and less sun. As a result, trees can no longer make food. The green colour (chlorophyll) leaves the leaf and that is why we see different colours. The students really enjoyed a follow-up experiment with their science teacher and after reading Leaf Man they created leaf art with the leaves they gathered.

Millbrook South Cavan Gr 1/2 – October 25, 2022