Tiny Treks Outdoor Preschool Class!

 The first day of Tiny Treks Outdoor Preschool Class was a success!  We had 9 students - ages 3-5 years old.  The kids spontaneously played "bus" on this long log for the longest time.  We sang "Wheels of the bus" while they were on their too!

 During snack time in the woods we read a book all about ducks and ducklings.  Our first theme for the class.  There are 6 Indian Runner Ducks at Keep it Simple that will be fun to observe.

 This cool photo is through the retired aquarium that Keep it Simple has back in the forest.  It used to house stream animals-but hasn't worked for decades.  They hope to turn it into an art piece.  We'll keep an eye on it for you.  Meanwhile-the kids looked through the glass and Teacher Roo took a very interesting photo!

We are looking forward to more excursions and adventures next week.  Please make sure to send enough water for your child in their lunch.  We will supply water for snack.  If it continues to be warm next week-again-just closed toed shoes and long pants please.  Probably short sleeves for shirts so we don't overheat!  (I've never said that before!!)


Please let your friends know about this class.  We will take up to 14 children.  We currently have 4 spaces left.

Fall City Farms is Pumpkin Fun!

The Pumpkin Farm was so fun!  There is a hay bale maze there that had thousands of tiny mushrooms growing on top of each bale of hay.  When we got to the middle we played "ring around the rosie" and all fell down!  Then it was time for our hay ride.  The farmer took us all over their fields and the resident dog jumped on and off the tractor to many smiles and laughs!  We hiked way out to the fields and looked for pumpkins no bigger than the "size of our heads".  It turned out that the pumpkins in the field were VERY big so we just walked around observing how pumpkins grow and then went back to choose pumpkins at the farm store.  We made pumpkin shakers and sang "Shake your sillies out" with them shaking along.  They were very loud!  The sun shone the whole time and a Great Blue Heron greeted us at the pond. 

We ended the class with individual bags of popcorn and a few stories.  Yum!

The Community Gardens in Marymoor Park were gorgeous!

Last Friday Tiny Treks decended upon the Community Gardens of Marymoor Park in Redmond.  The sun was shining as I set up 2 picnic tables-each with a different craft.  I put out leaves to trace and make rubbings of on one table and butterfly makings on the other.  They were both popular but I think everyone had the most fun with the butterflies.  We took our butterflies (made out of coffee filters, clothespins and pipecleaners) and had them land on the squash blossoms and various flowers.  We flapped our arms on our way to the circle time on a big green tarp.  After singing and stretching in the warm sun we began our walk around the garden.  We stopped and looked at the jalapeno peppers and wax beans growing.  We saw big and small pumpkins and other squashes growing along the ground.  At the back of the garden is a special park with a fountain and some art sculptures.  We all took turns throwing rocks into the water around the fountain.
On our way back to the picnic tables we saw two white butterflies chasing each other and a humming bird.  Many of the plants were on their last legs before being pulled up for the winter-but they were still so pretty. 
For snack we had icecream cones filled with yummy yogurt and we read a book about gardens.
It was a lovely day!

Beaver Lake Park and Making Totem Poles

We had a fabulous time at Beaver Lake Park on Monday.
We learned about totem poles and how they are made.  We read a trickster tale about the Raven and how he got the sun into the sky.  We saw lots of ducks and looked for beavers.  The kids were very interested to touch the carved beaver's tail and run their fingers over his big teeth.  We each made our own totem pole and covered it in animals of our choice.  What a cool day!

Red Riding Hood in the forest of Farrel McWhirter.

In order to create the world of fairy tales we decorated bags with stickers and pens and added a handle to make our bags into "baskets" -like the basket Red Riding Hood carried to grandma's house.  We then went to look for treasures to bring to grandma.  We found pinecones, leaves and even some hidden plastic eggs with stickers inside! (where did they come from ?)  Then we took our baskets on a hike and had our picnic by the stream where Maddie the Monkey and a Wolf puppet told the story of Red Riding Hood once more.  Picnicking under the trees, by a stream was truely a fairytale come true!

Fairytale camp is so fun!

What a great day we had at Tiny Treks Fairytale camp! The theme was The 3 little pigs. After getting to know each other a bit we found sticks in the woods then sorted them from small to large. Then we made them into a teepee shape and tied them together. That was our stick house just like the second little pig made! Then we had a fun circle time singing "This little Piggy" and "To Market to Market to buy a fat pig". We saw giant Dottie, the farm's pig and the new baby kid (goat).  She is so cute!  Our hike was exciting! We climbed on trees, pretended there was a troll under the bridge and found a moth that looked just like the leaves! Wow! It was a fun day at Tiny Treks!

Last day of the year-Paddleboating on Cottage Lake with goslings and frogs.

We were so lucky to have the rain stop just long enough for us to take out the paddleboat on Cottage Lake.  We brought a picnic along and ate lunch at the main park near the playground.  But not before we saw 8 baby goslings with the Father Goose and Mother Goose.  The goslings still had their pale yellow eiderdown feathers.  We paddled furiously to try and catch up with them but they were too fast!  Then we hiked to the bridge to see if we could find frogs.  Yes-there were 5 frogs in the water and probably more staring up at us as we leaned over the bridge.  I sang a german frog song :

Heut' ist ein Fest bei den Froeschen am See,

Ball und Konzert und ein großes Diner.

Qua, qua, qua, qua.



Qua, qua, qua, qua, qua, qua, qua, ...

And also the song:

there's a little green frog swimming in the water

a little green frog doing what he oughter

he jumped right off of the lily pad

that the little duck bit and he said "I'm glad

I'm a little green frog swimming in the water.  Glump, glump glump!

After paddling back to the house, we had to say our sad goodbyes to Maddie the Monkey and each other until Tiny Treks starts up again.