Wool you help us?

Do you or does someone you know have any left over yarn/wool to donate to our kindergarten classes? This week we started wrapping our explovery sticks but are lacking a good variety of yarn/wool.   We don't need a mountain of it, just some variety! If you have any to spare, we would be happy to use it!  

Thank you!

Little Pep Arrives from the North Pole!

Tomorrow is Day 3

Hello families!
Tomorrow is Explovery Day.  I will be away tomorrow but Mrs. Nye and Ms. MacDearmid will be here and we have planned an outdoor adventure for them as well as an indoor activity to prepare for an outdoor experience on Thursday.  Please have them dressed appropriately for both days.  Thank you!

Forest Discovery!

While out explovering in the forest yesterday we made an AWESOME discovery!  It was laying in the leaf litter on the path.  

I love that our friends are always thinking...they had many guesses as to its identity - mouse, rat, badger, rabbit.  In fact, it wasn't any of those - it was a mole!  

I picked it up so we could take a closer look because moles have some very cool characteristics and adaptations.  We looked at its very sharp rodent teeth, its pointed nose and its super cool little claws that are perfect for digging.

I was hoping we would get the question "How did it die?" and I wasn't disappointed.  I asked them for their suggestions and we collected a variety of answers..."It froze to death.", "It got squashed.", "It got lost.", An animal killed it."  Through a series of questions we got closer to a plausible answer.  Due to its condition it's very likely it was caught by a raptor bird like an owl or hawk and then accidently dropped.  Once dropped (and dead) it is almost impossible for the raptor to locate it as they hunt by movement.

We decided to move it off the path and placed it at the bottom of a maple tree.  A few students asked what would happen to it.  I mentioned that there are a variety of animals that make the forest their home that eat dead stuff like raccoons, skunks & possums.  

A few minutes later an SK friend came up and told me he covered the mole with a huge pile of leaves "so the night creatures wouldn't come and eat him".  I mused that dead things start to smell and those 'night creatures' have an excellent sense of smell.  He replied "the leaves will cover the smell".  "What a great experiment!" I said.  "Yup!" was his enthusiastic reply.  He landmarked the tree and ran off.   

Holiday Heros Campaign

Highview is collecting new toys and pyjamas for the Holiday Hero drive. 
There is more information in Highview's December newsletter. 

http://www.yrdsb.ca/schools/highview.ps/NewsEvents/Pages/Newsletters.aspx

Spirit Day on Friday

Friday is Pyjama Day!

Gnorm has a new friend!

Big excitement this morning when our friends noticed that Gnorm had a new friend - an elf!

Immediately our inquiring minds wanted to know where he came from, his name, why he's here. Gnorm was a little overwhelmed with all the questions.  Hopefully he'll answer soon.

(Believe it or not, the chicken is an old friend.  

That's Willow - he comes to the gym with us sometimes.  

He's very flexible and does yoga on Tuesdays.)