Oh, a Web we Weave: Fun with Spiders!

Here are some spider activities you and your child can do together!  Have fun!

Let's get Batty about Bats!

Here are some fun bat activities to do with your kids.  Enjoy!

Whooo want some Owl Fun?

Here are some fun activities with owls.  I hope you enjoy them!

Pumpkinology: Fun with Pumpkins

Here are some fun activities you and your children can do before you carve your pumpkins.  Enjoy!

Find me on Facebook

I have created a Facebook page to widen my audience.  I hope to see you there!  Please share!

More fun to come

I am so sorry that I haven't posted much for kids recently.  I have been busy at work and at home.  My goal is to post some activities for parents, teachers and kids this weekend.  I will be posting themes, such as Owls, Pumpkins, Bats and Spiders.  I hope this will help you get some ideas for you, whether you are a parent or a teacher.  So please stay tuned for these posts.

Also, I am hoping some of you out there will share any ideas as well.  I love to share ideas so that I don't get into a rut.  Please feel free to share any ideas, stories or photographs.  I would love to see them.

Have a great day and I hope to hear from you soon.   Linda

Camping at Chatfield State Park

My husband and I decided to take a quick camping trip, okay, its an overnight, at Chatfield State Park.  We had to wait until noon to check in, so we found an area to park in and walk around to see what we could find.  As we were walking down to the lake, we saw large flocks of American White Pelicans, Double-crested Cormorants, Canada Geese, American Coots, along with a few Bald Eagles, a Belted Kingfisher, and some ducks that I haven't been able to identify yet.

  

American White Pelicans can weigh as much as 30 pounds and have a wingspan of 9 feet!

American White Pelicans can hold 3 gallons of water in their bill.  They tilt their bill downward to drain the water and then upward to swallow the fish.

 Canada Geese flying around the lake before they land.  There are 11 subspecies of the Canada Goose that have been recognized.  They also have 13 different calls.

While their eggs are incubating, females lose their flight feathers, so they cannot fly until after their eggs have hatched.

Bald eagles can live up to 40 years in the wild and even longer in captivity.

The White Pelicans like to follow each other in a straight line when swimming to a destination.



Busted the Raccoon!

This morning, I was taking my daughter to school when I turned out of our street and saw a big animal by our mailbox. At first I thought it was a big, fluffy cat.  But as we both looked harder, we noticed the mask and the rings on his tail.  It was a very large raccoon.  He noticed that we had stopped and was watching him and then realized that he should get out of there.  Busted!  He took off around a corner and we decided to follow him in the car.  But once we rounded the corner, he was gone.  We looked down the street and up in the trees.  He must have climbed over a fence and into someone's yard.  It was so cool to see him.  Of course, I had no camera on my body, so I couldn't get any pictures.  I always see wildlife when I don't have my camera on me.  Thanks Murphy!

Let me know if you see anything exciting.  I would love to hear about it!  Please share!

Camping in Idelia, Colorado

So we decided to go camping out east of Denver, despite what the weather was going to be.  We just wanted to get out of town and try a little fishing.  Got to our campsite really late, so we just leveled the camper, had a beer and a glass of wine and went to bed.  The next morning, the skies were still cold and gray with 5o mph winds.  It was really hard to get the worms out into the ponds.  By noon, the skies cleared but the wind continued.  My husband and I decided to go on a small hike through the cottonwood trees and poinson ivy to see if we could find any deer or turkeys.  While walking, my husband either stepped on or flipped over a big bullsnake.  He was not a happy snake.  He coiled up and was hissing at us for a good ten minutes (see photo below).  We continued on and found a couple of white tailed deer, bounding through the trees.  On our way back, we found some gourds growing in a field, by the road, so I picked a few for my house.  On the road back, we ran across a small garter snake, sunbathing (see photo below).  Later in the evening, as the sun was setting, the whole family decided to walk down the road to see what we could see.  My daughter looked up into a cottonwood tree and asked "are those turkeys?"  Sure enough, there were several hens roosting in the trees and talking to each other (photos below).  We must have seen at least ten or more hens roosting right above our heads.  I have never (nor my husband) been so close to a wild turkey.  It was so cool!  We also saw a group of white tailed deer, grazing in the field.  That made the whole trip exciting!  The next morning on our way out, a Great Blue Heron flew right in front of us, landing in the field.  The last great adventure was on one of the dirt roads, heading home.  We got stuck behind some ranchers moving a large herd of cattle down the road.  When they finally got to the destination, they had the truck of hay go into the pasture first, followed by a couple of big bulls, and then the cows.  It was quite entertaining to watch.  What a fun weekend we had, despite the horrible strong winds.

Photos of the owls from the HOOTenanny!

Here are the photos I took of the owls at the HOOTenanny from yesterday's events.  Also, there is one photos of the Swainson's Hawk on the post.  Enjoy!

If you have any wildlife photos you would like to share, I would love to see them!

The HOOTenanny at the Audubon Center

Today was the annual HOOTenanny at the Audubon Society of Greater Denver. And it was a Hoot!  We had Hawk Quest bring 5 owls, a Great Horned owl, a Barn owl, a Long-eared owl, a Burrowing owl and a Screech owl.  They were so neat to see up close.  We also had tables set up for children and parents to make Snowy owls out of pinecones, owl pellets to dissect, pizza to buy and a Bluegrass band.  There were also vendors who sold home-made owl crafts, books to buy, stuffed owls from the Audubon Society and other vendors who had information such as Colorado Parks and Wildlife and the Wildlife Experience.  We also had hayrides.  Today was a beautiful, fall Colorado day and the weather was perfect!  I got to take the photos of the event and it was so amusing to get photos of the kids, especially when they found a bone while dissecting the owl pellet or dancing with the Bluegrass band.  We had a great crowd turnout; I think we had around 300 people!  We also had a couple of extra visitors show up:  an osprey and a juvenile bald eagle.  There was also a kestral off  in the distance, hunting for his lunch.  It was a great day of learning about owls.  I think this evening, my daughter and I might go out to look for owls and other wildlife.

Side note:  I will be uploading some photos soon.  Also, on my way home, I saw a Swainson's hawk on a light post by my house!  Got a pic of him, but he had turned his head, the little bugger!

What have you seen lately?  I would love to hear about it!

A Great Horned Owl!

So, on this beautiful, cool fall morning, I decided to take my dog for a walk into the greenbelt.  As we were heading back, I heard several jays squaking up a storm.  I looked over and in a tree was a Great Horned Owl!  Poor guy, the birds must have been annoying him with all of their ruckus!  I tried to get closer to him to get a picture, but he saw me coming and flew off.  I wonder if this is a sign for things to come?

by the way, the Audubon Society of greater Denver is having the annual HOOTenanny this Saturday, from 10 am to 2 pm.  I hope you can come out to visit us!

If you see anything cool out in Nature, I would love to hear about it!

It's not a stick; it's a snake!

I was walking my dog yesterday evening when my dog thought she saw a thin stick to take along.  Instead, it was a gartner snake, sunbathing on the path.  When she went to pick it up, it moved, causing her to jump.  I had to laugh.  Love those silly times.

Love Pintrest!

Hey everyone!  This is for all of you who love nature and parents and teachers who like to do nature stuff with their kids.  Check out Pintrest.  Use the search for Nature crafts for kids.  Amazing ideas!  Makes you want to get outside, collect things and put it all together! 

Let me know if you try any of them; I would love to see and hear your adventures.  I am going to try some of these myself in my classroom this fall.  I will post pictures later.

Pass this on to all of your friends.  Gotta love Pintrest!  So many great ideas!

Beautiful Day in Colorado!

Today was a beautiful day.  The temperature was just right and blue skies.  Things are drying out, which is good, but it will be a long time for those up north to rebuild and clean up what they have lost.  Prayers to them.

This morning I went to the Audubon Center to help guide some kids from a special group called E.L.K.  This group takes kids from the inner city out to visit and do things in nature, such as fishing, hiking and such.  Today, they came to visit the Audubon Center.  We had a couple of tables set up with furs, bones, (fake) skat and tracks.  Even some stuffed birds (which kind of freaked out some of the kids).  Then we took them on a tour of the place, searching for signs of wildlife.  The kids really liked the beaver areas and the pond.  Some of them had quite a bit of knowledge about different nature things.  Emily and I were really impressed.  They seemed to have had a good time, but were ready to go fishing at a lake up the road.

Driving on my way home, something white in the sky had caught my eye.  As I got a little closer, I noticed that it was a couple of white pelicans flying around.  I was wishing that I had my big camera and that I could have stopped the car to take pictures, but I couldn't.  Just a great memory now.

Later today, I walked my dog down into the greenbelt to see what damage had been done by the little flooding that we had last Saturday.  Below are the pictures os what it looks like now.  Pretty powerful.

What a great day!

Update on the rain here in Colorado

I have a cute little creek that runs close to my house in a greenbelt.  I walk my dog down there every day, looking for signs of wildlife and other Nature's treasures.  This weekend, we had a lot of rain in our area and my cute, little creek became a mighty river!  I think it rose about 8 feet above the normal level on Saturday night.  When I checked today, it had lowered about 4 feet.  It was amazing to see it run so high and so sad to see the destruction it causes.  I am very lucky to live south of the Denver area and not up north.  My prayers go out to all of those people who live up there and have lost so much.

Here are some of the photos I took of our little creek:  during the flooding and the day after

I won't be walking my dog down here for a while; not till it dries out!

Found a great Nature book!

So today I had to go to Lakeshore to laminate an owl poster I made for the Audubon Center.  As I was walking around, looking for ideas for my classroom, I ran across a really neat book.  It is called Nature's Art Box, written by Laura C. Martin.  This book has such neat art projects made from Nature and many of these things can be used with children.  I am so excited about it and can't wait to try one of the projects in the classroom. 
I hope you get a chance to check it out; I really think you might like it!  Enjoy!

Let it rain!

It is so nice to see some rain.  I love to hear it pitter patter on things, smell the cleanliness of it and wash away the dust.  Also, I love it because I don't have to water the flowers and the grass.  However, in some parts of Colorado, they are getting way too much.  I wonder if this is a sign of a long, cold, snowy winter?

For the Children: Bees...A Preschool Study

For the Children: Bees...A Preschool Study: As we continued our insect study we moved into a week long study of bees. GEMS: Buzzing a Hive We transformed our Science ar...

This is a great Bee Unit to teach to young children.  You could also add other ideas for the older children as well.  Well done Barbara!

Bird Migration on Pintrest

I was just on Pintrest, looking up bird migration.  They have some activities, maps and lots of great photos.  If you are interested in bird migration, check it out.  You might even find a great website there.

If you have any great ideas or websites that have activities for kids, I hope you will share them with me!

Morning Walk with My Dog

This morning as I was walking my dog, we saw a Great Blue Heron fly over us.  They are so magnificent to watch.  Then we noticed a hawk sitting on a light post, watching the traffic zoom by.  As we walked along the greenbelt and creek, we saw a Belted Kingfisher, who squawked at us and then flew away.  As we ended our walk, we both walked by a cottontail rabbit, who was frozen along the path and a crow who cawed his "Good Morning" to us.  What a great walk!

Did you see anything exciting this morning?

Sharing Ideas!

I love sharing ideas about nature and activities for children.  One great place to get some ideas is Pintrest.  Love it!  If you need to find ideas about something, try the search.  Usually it will pop up an idea that someone has posted.  You can also find some great websites there as well.

Just a tip for those of you who haven't been on Pintrest yet.  WARNING! It can be addictive!

Johnny Appleseed Day Ideas!

Johnny Appleseed Day is coming!  I have posted (I hope) on another page of some ideas that teachers and parents can do with their children on that day.  If you have any other ideas, I would love to hear from you!

Teachers: Project WILD series

For those of you who are teachers and those who teach science, I would recommend the Project WILD series.  This series is about Environmental Education, from habitats to bird ecology to water conservation, and so much more.  This is a great series of workshops and its fun as well.  To find out more about the different workshops, go to their websites.  There are several to choose from:  Project WILD, Project Wet, Project Learning Tree,  Flying WILD, and for those who teach pre-school, there is Growing Up WILD.  I have been to most of them and the workshops are a lot of fun!  You can usually find workshops through the website or through your local Division of Wildlife department.

If you have already been to one of these workshops, I would love to hear about your expereinces with them.

How this all got started

So, you might be wondering why I decided to make this blog.  It started about 2 years ago when I read Richard Louv's book "Last Child in the Woods. Saving Children from Nature Deficit Disorder".  Wow!  It was a real eye opener!  I highly recommend  this book if you are a parent or a teacher and you want to learn more about children not getting outside as much.  I have always loved being outdoors, whether hiking or camping or other activities.  And I love working with children as well.  But lately I have noticed that many of the children that I work with don't like playing outside.  They would rather be inside on the computer.  So I made it a goal to help inspire them to enjoy the outdoors through fieldtrips and projects, as well as games and stories.  Then this last Spring, I took a naturalist class through the Audubon Society of Greater Denver and have done some volunteering with them.  What a blast!  That was when I realized that I have so much to offer and to share with others.  I have one room in my house filled with nature books, environmental books and curriculum and many websites on my favorites.  I can't do it all at work, so I felt I should share it with you, my readers!  And hopefully, you will share some of your favorite ideas with me as well. I am really excited about this and I hope you will join me!

Let's inspire others to get outside and reconnect with Mother Nature!

Met a Coyote!

As I was walking my dog this morning, we ran into a coyote.  He was about 3o yards away.  Kind of unusual to see them out and about so late in the morning.  I couldn't get my phone out in time to get his photo.  My dog was looking at him like he might be friendly, but I had to reminder that he wasn't.  I love seeing wildlife in my greenbelt!

What have you seen lately near your house?

Starting BearHugs!

Hello Everyone!  My name is Linda and I am starting this blog because I am passionate about the great outdoors and children.  My hopes for this blog are to share ideas with you (my readers) and from you as well.  I believe that our children need to experience being outside in nature.

I want to share with you (my readers) the wonderful things I find in nature, the activities I do with children, and the resources I feel that can help children experience nature as well. And I want to hear from you as well; the things you see or find in nature, the activities with children or any other ideas and suggestions.

Eventually, I am going to build up this blog to make it an "Ultimate Resource for Parents, Teachers and Children", where you (my readers) can find links, suggested reading, and products that will help you and your children experience nature.

I am really excited about this new adventure and I hope you will share it with me!