Our first PD day camp was a big success and so much fun. We had a great group of kids that were all so happy to be spending the day outside with us at Nature School.
It was a bit cool this morning as everyone arrived but we had a fire to keep us warm. The kids all introduced themselves while sitting around the fire and lots of stories and observations were shared about things happening in nature and the changing of the season.
We talked a little bit about the things that are being harvested at this time of year. One of those things is apples. We were super lucky as Leigh was able to get us a whole basket of freshly harvested apples and we used an old fashion apple cider press to grind the apples and press them to make fresh cider. It took a lot of muscle power and a fair bit of time but we were able to produce enough cider to heat on the fire and share. It was absolutely delicious! We also cored and peeled a few apples that we covered with a bit of cinnamon and sugar and placed them in a dutch oven in the coals of our fire to bake. At snack time we were all able to share some of these as well.
The main theme of the day today was owls. Owls are amazing, fascinating creatures and were actually able to examine a real Eastern Screech Owl. We did a whole little anatomy lesson about owls, and learned all about the different types, what they eat and where they live. We also listened to the calls of different types of owls. We tried really hard to mimic the sounds but it wasn’t easy! We had some discussion around what owls eat and we were then able to examine that first hand as we dissected owl pellets and tried to identify all of the undigested bones that owls cough up. We discovered mice and vole skulls, as well as many other different types of little, tiny bones. The kids loved acting as scientists as they made these discoveries and observations.
Next, we moved on to a couple of owl crafts. The kids made some beautiful clay owls that I have taken home with me and will fire in my kiln. We will send out an email when they are ready and you can pick them up at Nature School if you choose to do so. We also painted some rocks as owls. Jacquie wrapped up our day by reading a great story about owls to everyone. The weather totally held out for us all day and the kids really seemed to enjoy themselves. I hope that they were able to come home and teach you something about owls too!