Sunday, December 4, 2011

Teen Nature

Today I went to a coming of age nature program that my friend runs. It was beautiful weather, I could hardly believe it's December (my friend was in sandals!)

We had a couple cool projects. For one we collected pine boughs for wreaths. Some of the teens had a hard time getting engaged in the activity, but for the most part they were very enthusiastic and creative. I think this was because the adults in the program gave them a lot of leeway to express themselves (read "be silly"). This might have helped generate creative energy which could then be channeled, rather than try to keep them on task and wind up in a low energy state.

We were careful not to collect too many boughs from any given tree. However, not a lot of our boughs were used in the actual project, so next week we are going to discuss other ways to use them, out of respect for the trees.

Our other project was to create wind chimes out of Japanese knotweed (an invasive plant that one could argue resembles bamboo).

See the distinct sections along the stalk?

One girl (who gained my immediate interest based on her fervor) decide she wanted to turn it into a flute. She spent the entire project working and whittling trying to figure out how. She was so excited when I got my flute to work, proving it was possible. By the end of the day she had a little whistle, and was very keen to tell me everything that she tried that helped or hindered her effort. I love the spark in that one!

Now I have a half-finished wreath to accomplish. Maybe the little lady and the young gentleman will help me after school tomorrow...

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Bird Calls

My friend, who is a wonderful woman as well as a talented cartoonist, has created a handy chart for remembering bird calls, with absolutely charming illustrations. I can't wait to get one on my wall. Check it out here.

I love her style!

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Cones!

The Four Winds lesson this month was on cones. We described and discussed different cones, and played cone-related matching games (such as types of cones to the branches of the trees they came from). We spiced up the lesson this time by bringing pine cone necklaces for everyone (using the cones collected in previous posts.)

(See the young gentleman in the middle?)

We also helped illustrate conifer tree facts by taking the kids outside and having them show us the circumference and height of the largest trees with their armspans. This was a lesson for us in group coordination!

Measuring an 'average' wingspan 

Stretching out our arms to the fullest to reach the length of the tallest redwood tree

At the end of the lesson we sent each kid home with a note for their parents. The note suggested they help the kids spread peanut butter on the cone on their necklace, roll it in birdseed, hang it by the thread, and watch to see if any birds come to have a snack!

If you want to see more pictures, you can visit the blog the classroom teacher keeps: she wrote an entry on our visit.

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Summer Camp Tricks 3

Continued from Summer Camp Tricks 1 and 2


Discovery

Children learn best when they don't realize they're being taught. Lead them right up to the conclusion, talk them all the way around it, but get them to pronounce it in their own words before you're done. 

One of my jobs at camp was to mentor high-schoolers who wish to work with children in the future. I let them run some of the projects I had designed for the kids. Once I explained it to them I tried to give them slack reigns so I could see how they would choose to run the lesson. One common hang-up that I noticed was when they presented the activity to the children, they would give all the information at once, including the overall concept the activity was designed to teach. "By the end of this lesson you kids will be able to see..." I had to work on this with many of my high-schoolers. Just telling them once that this is not the best way to present the activity wasn't enough, they would continue to do their introductions this way. Possibly because this is the way I presented the activities to them. "See, this teaches the students [such] in [such and such a] way." I couldn't show them or tell them how to teach, they needed to learn to teach just as much as the students needed to learn.


Watching my high schoolers I really noticed the trap, and how easy it is to fall in: we can't get caught in the idea that we're giving students information. We all know we are super smart, but the kids will respond better and retain more if they learn to draw the conclusions themselves. If they feel empowered, it is something they will remember.

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Snake Mountain Trees

I didn't want to bog down the story in my last post with too many details, but some things we saw are too interesting to not discuss.

For example, I didn't provide some of the quick ID points for the Eastern Hemlock I mentioned. The needles come off the twig bilaterally, like the wings of an airplane, rather than completely around the twig as you might see in a spruce. Each needle has two white lines on the underside, and if you look closely you will see a tiny stem on each (which will help distinguish it from a fir). And there you have it!

Another part of the day that was very interesting to me was the number of American beech trees we saw. Beeches in this area have a couple of problems that are taking them down. One is an insect, beech scale, which leaves white residue. I didn't see any evidence of this, but I did see signs of beech bark disease, a black fungus.

See how the usually smooth bark is marred?

Still, most of the trees I saw on the mountain were pretty healthy, which is refreshing. We even saw some beeches that were very large, I was almost fooled on the ID because I just didn't expect a beech to be that big. Did I mention I love beeches? It wrenches my heart to see them sickly, so this stand (mostly) made me smile.

When we saw more wind-downed trees, we discussed how the hollows left in the ground stay for a long, long time, with a bump on one side where the root mass used to be. Later we saw a hollow without the tree (it had probably been cleared, but still) and we got to discuss "what happened here?"



I can really see the effect I've been having on the little lady. When her mom asked her what she knew about a tree, she went over to sniff it. Quoth Mom: "Nature lady might be able to make IDs by smelling things, you've got to work your way up to that!" I appreciate her method though, gathering all the data she can to make an informed statement :)

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Snake Mountain


We were lucky enough this weekend to have great weather. It was so nice out we were able to fulfill our promise to the kids from the Mount Philo hike, which was hiking Snake Mountain next, now rather than wait till spring. True most trees are pretty bare, but it was still very beautiful. And the fact that most of the leaves are down had an unforeseen benefit: there were a lot of beech trees along this hike. Beech trees, while deciduous, do not lose their leaves as easily as other trees. You can see brown beech leaves still clinging to the branches even in the middle of winter. So the children became quick to recognize the smooth grey bark and papery-thin leaves of the American beech.

They both hugged a few beeches along the way

We talked about two different types of ferns we saw along the trail, Christmas fern and wood fern. Christmas fern particularly interested the little lady, its waxy J shaped leaflets look a little like Christmas stockings, giving us an easy reminder of its name. This fern is actually an evergreen.

She makes an identification

As we kept going up we talked of many things, such as how the types of trees were changing along the way. We jumped over (and, in the case of the young gentleman, in) many muddy patches. We also looked at tons of cool mushrooms. 

We're still collecting pine cones, and found some on an Eastern hemlock. We hadn't collected any hemlock cones for our Four Winds lesson on our searches thusfar!


My friend is taller than me, she had better luck reaching them

The tactics I have been discussing, those I picked up at camp, came in very handy here, as after the first few minutes on the trail we were already getting requests for breaks every few feet. We used tasks, like collecting cones, as well as games and songs. At one point we pretended we were pulling ourselves up the mountain with invisible ropes attached to cool looking trees. The young gentleman at this point threw me a look like "...really?" and walked right by me. The little lady loved it though. Guess he's just no fan of mime.

We also found this really cool log that looked like a crocodile. It may or may not have eaten all of us in turn...



...ham

And after all we made it to the top in time for lunch. The view was spectacular!

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Cooking Post

I wrote two guest posts on my sister's cooking blog A Pinch and A Splash, the first; making pumpkin puree from our Jack O' Lanterns. The next; making pumpkin cookies from that puree. Check it out!

Cone Walk

We hustled and bustled after school/work today to beat the sunset in time for a quick walk in the woods. Since it was around 60 today and sunny, it seemed like too good an opportunity to pass up. We had an ulterior motive as well: this month I'll be teaching a lesson on pine (and other) cones to the young gentleman's class. I asked the children to help me find examples and project fodder (more on this in a couple weeks). I told them usually it's important to leave nature in nature, but in this case it's ok because we're using it to teach about nature, and we'll put it back when we're finished.

Stately white pines

The only conifers in the area were white pines, so we filled our quota on those pretty quickly. I want cones from as many different types of trees as possible. We discussed the fact that cones differ from tree to tree, and white pine cones are not necessarily white (some had whitish dried sap on them) "white pine" is just the name.

The young gentleman asked me about "acorn trees", so I told him the acorns from oak trees are not the same as cones, but they are seeds and cones have seeds so it was a good connection. At the end of the hike I asked him where acorns come from and he told me it was oak, so we've moved up from "acorn tree."

Still, we have a good grip on white pine. Both children 
were counting out the 5 needles per bunch "W-H-I-T-E"

The little lady and I talked about a wind-downed tree she saw. I told her that a tree's root mass is usually the size of the branches, so why might this one have fallen? The branches are large and heavy and the now-exposed root mass is very shallow. It was probably restricted in growth by the bedrock being very close to the ground surface. It was as if the tree was standing on one leg and then the wind came to give it the final push!

The other thing our little lady noticed was some white stains on the trees. She asked if it was a bird's bathroom. I let her know that the tree had been injured somehow, and the sap is a way the tree protects the wound, like a scab. She thought maybe another tree had a lot of scars, but then she discovered it was really a snag. After that, she found another "snag", but it was tricky: it was really a living tree that had already lost its leaves to go dormant for the winter, "like hibernation."

We did beat the sunset...but barely!

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Wax Leaves

The kids helped us preserve some of the fall beauty (and share it with out friends who live far away) by waxing leaves they found on their way to school.

We ironed the leaves first, to help them to be crisp and beautiful. Spritz them with water while ironing, but make sure you let them dry fully before waxing them.

Before and after 

We melted some paraffin in a little crock pot. Just give each leaf a quick, even dip, then let it drip for a second or two, and you're done.


 Dip

After the dip we let them dry on parchment paper, it only takes a few seconds. The little lady remarked how "They feel smooth as candles now!"

 Finished products

 Love that red!

This was really quick and easy. When I did this project in the past we ironed leaves between sheets of waxed paper. I like the dip method so much more; it is easier, more fun, and yields better results. It also allows the children to be more hands-on in the process. All around win!

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Summer Camp Tricks 2

Continued from Summer Camp Tricks 1


Diversion!

As we went along our nature walks, we devised a 'telephone'-esque system for passing back safety information on the trail. I made sure each child pointed to the hazard as they told the message to the person directly behind them. This way they not only kept each other safe on the trail, they also learned what hazards look like. By the end of each hike, most of the kids could identify poison oak on their own. But they didn't really notice this exercise in respect, team building, and plant identification. They were busy having fun with it. It is so cute to listen to a whole line of 7-year-olds walking behind you chirping "poison oak, poison oak", and "look, it's right there!". Even better when within a few yards of each other we saw both the poisonous vine and some presents left behind by the horses in the camp stable. Then you could really see how akin to the game our system was. By the end of the line, my children were warning each other against the "poisonous horse scat"!

Poison what?!?!

Some of the kids were not super excited to have to exercise and deal with insects as we do on a hike, but this gave them a little something extra to put their minds to, they had less chance to get bogged down in complaints. And it made my job easier, rather than having to work to get attention to warn an entire group about every hazard along the way, I just had to point and listen to the ripples.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Leaves!

Today I went to the young gentleman's kindergarten class to do a lesson on leaves. It was a pre-designed lesson from the Four Winds Nature Institute, being taught this month in participating schools all across the Northeast. My fellow volunteer for this classroom, who I met one hour prior to the lesson, is a very lovely mother of one of the young gentleman's classmates, and a doctor! It was a little odd teaching someone else's lesson plan, I'm getting used to making my own at this point. Still, we had a lot of fun with it. Adding our own spice, we put fake leaves in our hair, having the children guess what we'd come to talk to them about today.

Investigating leaves

The kids had a great time. During the introduction, when asked what leaves do, one child answered that "They make oxygen, which goes into your mouth, to your chest, then to your heart!". I love it when children surprise you with a tidbit they picked up and kept.

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Summer Camp Tricks 1


In posts I have discussed how I attempt to incorporate a little information into everyday outdoor play without making it seem like a lesson. However, being a nature professional with the teaching bug, I find myself IN lessons, the likes of which children don't always wish to attend. At camp I would get feedback such as "the nature program is like school" because of the lessons tacked onto my hikes and games. So how do I disguise a lesson from the children?

Animation is one of the best tools of course, but one you have to find for yourself, on your third nature hike of the day, in 95 degree weather, with enough leftover energy to convince the kids who don't want to go, and the counselors who don't want to go...wait, where was I? Oh yes...

Tools in my knapsack include:
1) Exaggeration
2) Diversion
3) Discovery

Exaggeration

On our nature hikes at camp, it was important to me that the kids understood why what we did was for safety. I had the children tell me why such things as "stay on the trail" and "use your walking feet" were important, I described how we would act on the hiking trail, and warned them about potential trail hazards. The kids would come to Nature all pumped to go on a hike (or perhaps not, in which case I would pump them up for it) and have to sit and listen to safety instructions?!?! I had some glazed eyes. In this instance I pulled out exaggeration.

"On the trail, I will stay in the front because I know where we are going and I'll be on the lookout for hazards such as poison oak and rattlesnakes (not an exaggeration, we were in southern California after all.) Your counselor will take up the caboose, in case any mountain lions sneak up on us. They'll distract it so the rest of us have time to get away." Jaw-open stares, the kids who had stopped paying attention snapped to. Is she being for real? But when all the counselors and myself burst out laughing the kids joined in. Yes I guess it was POSSIBLE to see a mountain lion, but not probable (and we would work hard to keep the kids safe of course).

This established with the children that we were going to have fun. It's ok to joke around: we could play while we walk and talk. Yes I'd be telling them things they need to know, but it wouldn't be all shop talk.

One does need to be careful here though. For example, occasionally a kid would express worry that we were going to get lost. When I reassured them that I knew the trails, sometimes I tagged on a "have I ever steered you wrong before?" I realized at that moment how important it is that they never have a reason to doubt this, and even a joke could have an impact on an impressionable child. Thankfully they always answered no. The children need to be aware of a difference between a joke and a deficit in credibility.

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Arboretum

I was off for a week to Washington DC with a very dear friend of mine, the author of For Love or Science. I spent most of my time in museums, especially the Museum of Natural History, and I also got to experience the National Arboretum. I was giddy: it's a cross-breed between a museum and hiking! I would highly recommend going, as well as I would recommend bringing a picnic. Maybe even a bike, it's a long walk! But, in my opinion, well worth it.

Bonsai tree with friend for scale.

I was floored by the bonsai exhibit. I expected to favor the more natural exhibits over this, which has much more evidence of human involvement. Don't get me wrong, I loved the other exhibits too, but it was wonderful to see the beauty and care in these little trees...one was over 300 years old!

Wowza!

It was especially interesting how some of the bonsai trees displayed were less tree-sculpting like I imagined and more like miniaturized scenes. Tiny forests on a table-top.

I could sit in that grove and read or draw all day...if I were an inch tall!

The herb exhibit was also excellent, with herbs arranged by medicinal, culinary, industrial, and even fragrant properties.

"Pineapple Sage" - rub a leaf and it really does smell of pineapple!

Now if we move up to full-sized trees, I also really enjoyed walking through "Fern Valley". As you walk along the path you are presented with examples of different forest types from different areas of the country. My friend and I got a special treat when we saw a five-lined skink scurry out of sight. This represents the only type of lizard found in Vermont, where it is rare and, despite looking, I have never seen one. So I was very excited even though we were out-of-state.

Skink!

Saturday, September 24, 2011

How I Embarrassed Myself...For SCIENCE!

Time for one of those anecdotes I mentioned. I came across an e-mail I sent to one of my friends last year, to which she responded "you should have a blog, and this should be your first post." I took her advice on the blog, so maybe I should follow up by posting the story I told her. It has nothing to do with children, but it might provide amusement and falls under the category of science-themed. I hope you do enjoy it. (Includes mild edits for audience and anonymity)

I was a post-grad on campus for some errand or another, wandering on a busted knee, when I found a great opportunity to embarrass myself for the sake of science.

I happened to see a bird, sadly deceased, lying by the science building. One can only assume it met a tragic end with a plate glass window. My second immediate thought (after "oh no!") was of the windowsill of one of my former housemates. She had to learn taxidermy for one of her wildlife classes, and I had seen the final result in her room, two beautifully stuffed birds. As I looked at this intact specimen before me, thinking of that class project, I said to myself, said I, "Someone, somewhere will want this bird!" Thus my quest began.

I found a newspaper in the building and make-shifted...make-shaft...created a bird baggie. Ready for transport! It struck me then that all of my contacts in the dead bird world were in the natural science building. At the time this particular building was undergoing renovations to make it green, so it was a giant rubble fest. I proceeded to the next best option: the life science building. I went for the office. As I stammered out my purpose and attempted to negate the presence of the paper purse I was wielding, I suppose I should have taken this as my first sign that I am, in fact, a crazy lady. But I was committed now (no pun intended.) Office Lady directed me to a professor, with whom I had never had the pleasure of acquaintance, who she thought might be interested. Upon meeting him, he quickly informed me he was in mammology...thus...why on Earth was I offering him a bird?!?! Well, maybe the indignation was in my head...Either way, he said he'd give the bird to the ornithology professor. As he saw my face perk up, he realized I knew this man and thus he could save himself some trouble. Instead of going himself, he'd just send me on the next leg of my quest: the quest for Dr. Ornithology!

I kicked myself for not thinking of Dr. Ornithology first, but it is understandable. While I had a lot of friends who were, I was not in wildlife biology. I knew the doctor by reputation and sight, but not from actual contact. It didn't help that he is one of those people that is so intelligent and cool, I always wished he knew who I was. Well, I guess this was my chance!

This quest was made more treacherous by the fact that this professor usually resides in the “pile of rubble” building. However, the seemingly most difficult leg turned out to be the smoothest. Get ready for the denouement people! Dr. Mammology directed me to the agricultural science building where I immediately bumped into the secretary of my favorite professor, and we were only 3 doors down from the aforementioned's new office. And he was THERE. This never happens to me. I proceeded to interrupt his meeting with a querulous-looking freshman to hand him a dead bird.

I also had a bit of a fangirl moment when he said he remembered me. I guess I have a reputation as well. And it's not as a crazed bird-bag lady...yet.

He ran down the bird's identification with me: it was a black-throated green warbler, either in fall plumage or female since the colors were not vivid.

Later I told this story to my taxidermist friend, and she laughed saying she knew that bird. She had also gone to campus, later that day, and was surprised when she dropped in on Dr. Ornithology and he handed her a bird to identify in order to test her skills. How's that for coincidence?

Thus ends the story of how I limped around campus offering strangers a dead bird in a newspaper baggie. I feel privileged to be part of a select group of people who, on perceiving the stimulus of a dead animal, think “Someone can USE this!”

...and not in the “roadkill soup” way...

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Mount Philo

On Saturday my lovely friend and I took her children for their first hike up a mountain. We chose Mount Philo, since it would not be too hard for the children and, although it is small, it has lovely views.

As we gamboled through the woods, I was pleased to hear the children chattering about the plants around them. The little lady saw a dead tree with many holes in it and proclaimed it a snag. She remembered from our last hike that "Woodpeckers make the holes." Why? "To find insects." What happens to the holes when they are done? "Other animals move in." Not bad for 6 months later!

Near the beginning of the hike we came across such a beautiful specimen of ash, I'll admit I got over-excited. I love ashes, how they shoot up so straight and tall right through the rest of the trees until the top is invisible behind the canopy. The bark is so distinctive with its oblong hexagonal diamonds.

Diamonds!

Thus, inadvertently, this was my pet tree for this hike. We also saw some white pines, which had not been forgotten from last time either. The young gentleman and the little lady counted out the needles for me, 5 per bundle, just like I promised.

This hike was pretty magical in terms of things to see. We discovered fairy homes, tree scars and burls, rocks that had been moved by glaciers, and various types of mushrooms speckled everywhere.

A fairy home

We discussed how sometimes we see a lot of one type of mushroom spread out over an area. It may look like individual mushrooms, but actually they are connected by root-like mycelia that run under their feet. After all my talk of not overwhelming the children with information, here I am discussing glacial erratics and mycelial mats! Luckily for me, the little lady ate it up (though not literally, since the mushrooms were toxic) and the young gentleman was content to listen while he faced the obstacles of roots and rocks our long-legged bodies barely registered.

View of Lake Champlain from the overlook

The children were amazing, never complaining, always pushing toward their goal of reaching the top. And we were all rewarded when we got there, as you can see. Since the children did so well, we told them we want to hike another mountain. We want to do Snake Mountain next (slightly larger than Philo, but the children proved themselves!)

Showing the children the next mountain we'll hike, Snake Mountain. Wait, hold on...

that one!

On the way down we found some patches of jewelweed, otherwise known as touch-me-not. I'd shown the kids this plant before, so they were very excited.

Pale jewelweed

For your information, not only are the leaves good for insect bites and poison ivy, but the mature seed pods burst to the touch, shooting seeds like they were spring-loaded! It happens to be the right time of year, and there were plenty of good, ripe, bean-looking pods.

"I love exploding touch-me-not!" ~The little lady

Sunday, September 18, 2011

I Hate Nature

This summer I led a nature program at a camp in southern California. Among other activities I would lead several nature walks every day, each time with a new group of kids. These kids mostly grew up in Los Angeles county and some were unenthused, if not downright scared, by exploring nature.

To me, one of the most cringe-worthy statements that leaves a child's mouth is "I hate _______". Be it snakes, spiders, dirt, mud, etc. Let me tell you, I heard it a lot at camp. Children tend to be pretty quick to judge what they don't understand,. The good news is, they are quick to turn around as well. This statement creates a teachable moment, and a little bit of information can go a long way here.

Before leaving on these walks I would briefly address the fact that everything in nature is connected in ways we don't always see at first glance. On the walk it was pretty typical to hear many complaints about flies buzzing near their ears. Then, inevitably, we would run into a spider. The reactions varied: some children were petrified, others disgusted, one or two wanted to step on it or get me to. I would first remind the children that the spider is outside, we are in its home, so we should leave it alone. Besides, this type of spider is harmless to humans. In fact, it is on our team: it is working hard to get rid of those pesky flies. You can take it a step farther and say that spiders are food for birds, so we need them to have beautiful birds around. The kids I talked to generally knew these things from class, but had never connected it to the actual world around them

It is easy to get people in general to care about what we call "charismatic megafauna" (basically, if it's cute and looks cuddly.) It is more difficult to work on the rest, especially if we ourselves are not very comfortable with the animal in question. No matter what we think of it though, it's important to instill in our children the respect for life.

Friday, September 16, 2011

An Early Spring Day

I am lucky to live near some diverse natural areas. One of these is a bog which you can walk into via a boardwalk and see some interesting carnivorous plants. I went out there one day this spring with my friend and her children.

On the hike in, through the woods, I chose one or two plants to point out to the kids. I chose ones I knew were interesting and would be memorable for specific reasons. Take the example of white pine. The needles are much different from any other evergreen in the area, long and thin, so it would be easy for them to recognize. Also the kids could enjoy counting off the 5 needles per bunch that identify white pine from the other pines.

Counting needles with the children

I chose to use only one or maybe two trees as an example in order to give the kids a taste of tree identification without overwhelming them, or having them become bored with the idea. As we walked through the forest I was able to point to white pines and say "What kind of tree is this?". The children would run up to count bunches in order to be sure before informing me it was their new friend the white pine. They were so excited to know this and had such satisfaction in exhibiting their new skills, they will remember that and want to learn the next tree when we go hiking again.

On the boardwalk

Once we got to the bog I got to teach the kids about carnivorous plants and why some plants need to get their nutrients from food, like we do, rather than soil like other plants. As you can see it was still early spring with a lot of dormant plants, but we did get to see several lovely pitcher plants. The children really enjoyed it, they were so psyched about the nature walk they asked us to take them to another park before going home.

On our second adventure of the day we walked through the woods to a beach on the lake, which was beautiful and still slightly iced over. Again, I chose one vocabulary word to bring home. When the little lady pointed out a standing dead tree, I let her know she could call it a "snag" and how important it was for wildlife. Later on the hike she saw another, "What's this, it's a sn...what's the word?" After that first reminder she had it down and was pointing out every snag she found.

Then we found a big sheet of birch paper and made it the rest of the way back jumping over residual snowbanks!

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Introduction

I have seen the way a child's eyes light up when they witness a miracle happen in nature. When a butterfly emerges from a chrysalis, when they hear the cracks as they step on a frozen puddle, or even just when they can find two different leaves lying side-by-side on the ground. Children display a passion for learning about the natural word around them, which is easy enough to spark just by stepping into a backyard or a park. The key is to catch quick teachable moments in a child's outdoor play, which is naturally curious exploration, and make sure to take advantage of them.

I have been grabbing hold of these opportunities with children in my life, giving them information to help guide their thoughts as they play and delve deeper into their nature investigations. As I'm moving forward, taking on more children in after-school programs, I want to make these themes and methods available for others to adopt, adapt, or at least find amusement with my anecdotes. As I explore and play with these children and our beautiful Vermont landscape I will post my adventures, which I hope can give you inspiration to guide more explayration in your children's everyday lives.