Use The Screen To Get Into The Green . . . Week Two
Welcome to Week 2 of “A Little Screen Time to Find More Green Time”! We hope this message finds you well, and that you are smoothly settling into your new routines. This week we encourage you to get outside to experience the shades, sights, and sounds that surround us. From making and floating a “nature boat”, to “Seeking Red” for the Friday Find, and everything in between, you’ll find plenty of ideas for staying connected to nature as we usher in the new spring weather. We look forward to sharing your journal entries and your photos from the “Weekend Wonder Photo Challenge” to inspire others to learn and discover outside.
Spring is a great time to gather Fairy House Building Materials.
Mark your calendars for September 26th- 27th!
With spring upon us, spring cleaning and prep of yards and gardens are beginning. As you do this, we ask you to think about saving materials to donate to the museum for future fairy house building. Pine cones, small sticks, acorns, pebbles, tree bark, pine needles, plant stems, and much more are things we rely on for our fairy house building station at the annual Fairy House Festival. You can simply box, bag, or bundle these things up and drop them off at the museum. We ask that you don’t donate any materials that are too big (e.g. stumps, logs), dangerous (e.g. things with thorns or sharp points), or invasive (Japanese knotweed, oriental bittersweet, ground cherry, etc). The museum and the fairies thank you!
Vanessa Stern, Executive Director and Jay DeGregorio, Senior Educator
Now that you have your journal ready to go, take it with you the next time you head outside to enjoy your natural surroundings.
The Spring Journal (Keeping a Nature Journal by Clare Walker Leslie)
What early green shoots appear near you? Can you see crocuses or daffodils beginning to sprout? Or grasses and woodland flowers? Take a walk and draw the green things growing on the ground. Be sure to record the date! It will be interesting to note the rapid changes in between your visits to the same spot. Write about your experience looking for these signs of spring. Was it a cool, sunny day or misty and damp? What did you hear along your way? How did this experience make you feel?
Which tree has bark like this? See our Facebook page for more photos, clues, and the answer!
Hint: This species can grow in large stands and often doesn’t have much growing underneath them.
Float Your Boat!
Make a boat at home, and float it in an April puddle. Make your boat with twigs, https://www.easypeasyandfun.com/twig-boat-craft/
OR an avocado. https://kidscraftroom.com/avocado-boat-craft/
Search your outdoor surroundings for leaves from the fall and seed pods from a variety of plants. Add glue, and you have a nature boat! What else can you use to make a boat?
https://mothernatured.com/nature-play/nature-boats-for-kids/
It’s no surprise to see lots of shades of red in nature in the fall, but what can you find that’s red in the spring? Things are changing, and colors are returning. Look closely around you in nature to see what shades of red you notice. Don’t forget to look high and low! Can you find red on both animals and plants? Take a photo or draw a picture in your nature journal of your discoveries. Share your discoveries and observations with us in the comments on our Facebook post this week.
Take an adventure into the outdoors whether it’s a long trail hike or a backyard safari. Capture a photo of something that you feel is unique and surprising. Maybe it’s something with a unique design, a kooky looking tree, or just something you don’t normally see when outside. Vanessa took the photo that you see below. She named it, “After the Hail”. She captured this unique discovery in her backyard woodland scene the day after a wonderful early spring thunderstorm. Throughout her walk not far from her house, she kept stumbling upon what she liked to call, “nature’s bowls of ice pearls.” These were actually piles of hail that fell in the height of the storm the night before and had yet to be melted by the warm spring sun.
“Pathways to the Ponds”
https://northernwoodlands.org/discoveries/pathways-to-ponds
Beavers are master “ecosystem engineers”, but what other organisms are “engineers” that modify their habitat to better meet their needs?
Have you ever noticed a series of canals emanating from a beaver pond near you? Did you wonder what their role was in the life of a beaver?
How do the canals created by beavers help amphibians?
We’d love to hear what you think. Share your comments on our Facebook posts this week.
“Birds in Focus: Drumroll, Please”
https://northernwoodlands.org/articles/article/drumroll-please
As the seasons change, so do the sounds. Read about the mysterious drumming you may hear in the forests as spring returns.
Have you heard any woodpeckers where you are lately?
Can you identify any by the different rhythms of their drumming?
What’s the main reason that these birds make their drumming sounds at this time of year?