Field Trip

For many years I regularly used my 15 passenger van to take the children on field trips.  It had plenty of room for all the car/booster seats, supplies, and even my teens when they came along to help out. Eventually the costs of upkeep for the old van began to outweigh the benefits of using it. When all my original car seats expired I priced out buying five new ones I decided that the expense wasn’t justified for just a few outings a year.

I discovered that I don’t miss taking the children to museums and we can walk to the library and many other neighbourhood attractions.  So, for the past four years we haven’t gone on an outing that required transportation.  In fact, we go on far more walking adventures than we ever did before and they are much more spontaneous (emergent). I do however miss the farm trips and many of the distant hiking trails we used to frequent. So this summer I decided to take my little group on a city bus adventure to the closest one of  the trails – Bunn’s Creek Trail.

For some of the children this was their first ever experience on a city bus.  They were all very excited.  Throughout the 20 minute ride they giggled and cheered and sang songs amusing all the regular bus riders.  We disembarked and began our hike down the 3 km trail.  I loved that my little group of preschool hikers immediately began assessing risks.  ‘Those trees look like bridges – it would be fun to walk on them but if they broke we would fall in the water’;

I told the children I would take a picture of anything they found interesting along the way.  The first one they requested was this lonely ‘rainbow leaf’;

They were amazed by the ‘broken beaver dam’;

Of course they noticed all the thistles growing along the trail.

These boys find thistles everywhere – in parks, back lanes, trails and even gardens.  They like to touch them – they know they are prickly but to them this seems to be an acceptable risk.  I find it interesting how gently they touch the thistles.   Most of the time ‘gentle’ seems to be difficult for this group yet when it comes to thistles they demonstrate that they have the ability to be gentle so yes, keep practicing that!

Then they spotted ‘dandelions’ but they were very tall so a quick check of our field guide and we found out that they were actually sow thistles.

The children don’t think sow-thistle is as prickly as Canada Thistle and quickly lost interest until they found this;

‘Sticky!’

We’ve seen these big leaves of the Common Burdock on many of our hikes but the children have never paid much attention to them or the burrs.  Now these have become the ‘must touch’ favourites on all our hikes.

We reached the park at the end of the trail and took a washroom break.  Everyone wanted to stay on the bridge for a while and look at the creek.

This was the mid point of our hike – we headed back along the trail to where we started.  It was interesting how many of the landmarks the children remembered on our return trip.  They got really excited as we approached the spot where the lonely rainbow leaf was.  Pretty amazing that they can find the same leaf twice in a 6 km nature hike.

We had our lunch in the field near where the creek meets the Red River.  It was so peaceful.  

There was a bald eagle that flew from one side of the clearing and back several times but I was never able to get a picture of him.

The bus ride home was still exciting but much quieter and everyone was ready for a nap when we returned.

We continue to go on long hikes in our neighbourhood but now the children point out all the prickly/sticky plants AND the buses too. Maybe we’ll have to try another bus adventure soon.

The Destination

Going for a walk or hike is one of our favourite things to do.  Whether planning a short walk or a full day outing we rarely have 'destination'.  We have some preferred routes but we often deviate from are original plan when we find something interesting.  Walks are time for exploration.

The children are involved in the planning of our trips but I don't usually ask 'where' do you want to go - implying that there is an end point.  Rather, I ask 'which direction should we head' and at various points I'll ask 'which way should we turn'.  

Walking through the cemetery is one of their favourite routes - they like to look for owls in the nest boxes. Last fall on one of our cemetery walks they noticed this park on the far side of the river - "Can we go there?"

Hmm, some day maybe.  I was not very familiar with the area on that side of the river and although I had a rough idea how to get there I would need to scout the trail without children first.  

Earlier this spring my husband and I went on an evening hike to check out the available routes.  The park wasn't actually difficult to get to - just a short detour off one of our familiar trails.  However, to make a full loop back to my house was not possible that day because the spring river levels were too high and parts of the trail were under water.

Last week the children and I made our first trip to the new park - not the playground, I rarely go to playgrounds (read why here). Parks are full of nature and so many things to explore and discover.  We left early and took our morning snack and picnic blanket with us;

 

It is a little difficult to see in the photo but the children were easily able to locate the cemetery across the river from our picnic spot;

The new park also has an amazing forest and riverbank to explore;

The boys like to look for bears and wolves in the forest - this trip resulted in a very exciting discovery;

Probably just a dog tracks but HUGE like a wolf!

I was impressed when these three and four year olds noticed - and correctly identified this bridge by name.  It is one of five bridges we frequently visit but we have never approached it from this side.

Crossing the bridge on our way back they stopped as usual to look at and talk about this 'house-shaped' cement barricade/structure (please leave a comment if you know the real name for this thing).

When we pass this way we often discuss the river levels at various times of the year.  This day they were talking about how the driftwood got stuck up there in the spring when the river was higher.  Then they noticed something even more interesting in the driftwood...is that a nest?  Why would she want to have a nest there?

We've visited the new park twice now.  On our second trip the children eagerly anticipated seeing this goose again - and maybe babies.  She wasn't there, however there was a pair of mallard ducks.

While we were watching them they jumped off the cement into the river below.  The children were thrilled and now refer to this as 'the diving board'.  I suppose that's better than 'house shaped cement thing that I don't know the real name for'.

Picnics in our new park and the exploration along the way have been full of adventure and discovery.  I'm sure there will be many more to come.

Prairie Explorers

Last week we went on a field trip to Fort Whyte Alive – one of our favourite places!  The older children are all seasoned hikers – they’ve been with me for years.  However, we haven’t acutally done much hiking this year.  I’ll admit that with three infants/toddlers in our group I was a little apprehensive.

I know – the older children in the group were here as toddlers and they went hiking then.  I was confident that all of the children in the group would be able to spend the full day outdoors.  If anyone was going to complain it would be the older ones – I thing school (and bus transportaion) has made them a little lazy.

My concern was taking three toddlers – if they didn’t want to walk I did have strollers – if they did want to walk I would have empty strollers to haul.  Luckily there was a combination of both hiking and riding toddlers.  One 19 month old actually walked the entire 5 hour hike only stopping to sit for meals!

We checked out all the wildflowers and priarie plants – even recognized some that we have in our garden;

This white/beige plant created a lot of interest – we don’t know what it is;

It is very fine and from a distance it looks a little like fog – if you know what it is please leave a comment;

It was a beautiful day and the scenery was amazing;

We met some new friends;

It was an awesome day.  We hope to do some more outings next week too.  Sadly we will be unable to visit Wild Earth Farms where some of our vegetables come from but I’m certain there will be other outdoor adventures before school starts again.

Spring Break Continues

On day three of spring break we headed out on a field trip to explore the Science Gallery  and listen to a special presentation about the work of the Prairie Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre  and meet some of their rescued birds and one pet rabbit.  It was great to see a peregrine falcon ‘in person’ – we have learned a lot about them in the past and last spring   we really enjoyed watching their adventures on the falcon cam. We had planned to attend a Planetariumshow too but the wildlife presentation ran longer than expected so we missed the beginning of the show – next time!

There was one other interesting bit of information from day three.  I overheard a comment made by one of the school-age children – apparently they had considered our walk to the dollar store ‘long’.  I was intrigued so we discussed this a little further and I discovered that the older children all agreed with this assessment.  Now I was more shocked and a little dismayed – the dollar store is only a few blocks away – about one kilometre!

The children involved in this conversation are not regularly in attendance or they have recently enrolled so have not experienced our excursions.  They take the bus to school and – according to them – their parents drive them everywhere else they have to go.  These children do not normally walk anywhere.  The ‘regulars’ and I shared some stories of our hiking adventures and I began making plans for a ‘special event’ for day four.

After morning snack on day four we got ready for our trek.

“Where are we going?” they ask

“To the library” I reply

“Where is the library?” the newbies ask

Those who attend regularly begin to giggle and answer “It’s waaay past Safeway and Sobey’s too”.

It is 3.3 kilometres away when we take the short route.  I don’t particularly like the short route because it is a bit of a boring hike with no points of interest and the loud traffic makes conversations difficult.  Today, however, we would take the short route because we didn’t have a lot of time and it was a little chilly.  Our brisk pace kept us warm and we made it there in about 40 minutes.

No one complained about the length of the journey.

We relaxed in the library, read some books and picked out some to take back with us for later.  The pace for our return trip was a little slower so it took a few extra minutes.  While I prepared lunch only one child chose to play in the playroom – the others just wanted to sit and read their books.  The room was surprisingly quiet throughout lunch too.  They were tired and hungry.

After lunch I brought out a map and we traced our routes for the trip to the dollar store and the trip to the library.  I also traced the ‘scenic’ route to the library – the one we usually do twice each summer.  That route is 4.6 kilometres and passes through three parks where we stop and play.  We climb trees and we usually have a picnic too.  The scenic route to the library is the best.



Just one more day of spring break…..

An Extraordinary Summer

According to my WordPress stats this is my 100th post – Yippee!  It has been just over a year since I started this blog too – I missed the actual anniversary since there was no reminder for that and I need reminders.  So I thought an exceptional event deserved a post about something special or unique and this has been an extraordinary summer.

After the soggy late spring this hot dry summer has definitely been unusual – mosquito free too!  Enrolment has been atypical as well.  With several of our regular children away for the summer I was able to accommodate many school-age ‘summer care only’ children.  Nap time is still needed for some of the younger children but with no infants or toddlers here it is not as crucial and it is OK if we skip nap time occasionally.  Hence, we’ve been able to schedule full day field trips – an extremely rare occurrence.

Last week we spent a day at Fort Whyte Alive.  I started the morning by packing a picnic lunch for all;



We loaded up the van and set off for our adventure.  Once we arrived our first stop was at the Interpretive Centre where we got to get really close to some indigenous animals;



Much closer than would be possible if they were alive;



Then we visited the Aquarium of the Prairies which captivated the children for a very long time.



I was amazed by how interested the children were in watching the fish.  It made me wonder if I should invest in an aquarium for our own but I think it may have been the size of the fish that intrigued the children so much.  Unfortunately none of the pictures I took were able to capture the detail of this exhibit.

After we left the Interpretive Centre we strolled along the floating boardwalks – my favourite area;



The slight movement of the boardwalk made some a little nervous so we didn’t get too close to the edge even when we stopped to watch the topsy-turvy ducks;



And the green algae covered water which we almost mistook for a grassy meadow;



After lunch we visited the sod house and then took another hike.  No one could resist a side trip to do this;



We ended our adventure with a visit to the Fort Whyte farm where the chickens seemed eager for some company and ran over to greet us but stayed just out of reach.



As for skipping nap time – this day everyone napped on the way home, except the driver who wishes the van had auto pilot so she could have napped too.

Program Planning

The weekend has arrived and the weather is fine. Sometimes that is a bad thing since it can distract me from doing necessary cleaning and paperwork.  Today however I had outdoor ‘work’ to do so good weather was a bonus.  I started the day by doing a few errands to pick up some gardening supplies and other items for next week.  A trip to Costco resulted in a couple of really cool new books – Survival Wisdom and Know How and the Saskatchewan and Manitoba Nature Guide.  Both look like they will be really useful.

Then my son and I went hiking.  Today was national trails day and to celebrate The Winnipeg Trails association held several special events.  There was free food (always a good thing) and plenty of great entertainment.

I often take the children on hiking adventures but it is important that I be at least somewhat familiar with the trail.  Exploring is fun but getting lost is not so my son and I scout the area to get familiar with the trail before I plan a hiking trip for the children.  This is my favourite part of program planning.

We have explored some parts of the Seine River Greenway in the past but we haven’t seen it all – there are so many great hiking trails in the city.  Today we checked out the Bois-des-Esprit section of the trail to see what it had to offer.

The wide gravel part of the main trail would be great if I had a very young group or if we needed to bring strollers or wagons.

There are also many smaller side trails and these are the ones that the boy and I were drawn to.  It is here on the lesser travelled trails that we find things like big rocks

Fallen trees

 

And cool bridges

 

There are places to practice going over

And under

Around

And through (which I’m certain will be a favourite).

This is one of many tree carvings of owls and wood spirits cleverly located along the trail

I wonder how many more we can find.  This promises to be one of many great summer adventures for us.

Magic Trees

Yesterday’s topic suggestion at The Daily Post was “You’ve got a magic tree: what does it grow?”
I believe all trees are magic.

They provide shelter and serenity when we need it.

 

They demonstrate resiliency and determination helping us to overcome adversity.

 

They possess the power to inspire — creating awe and wonder and urging us to dream.

 

Young children know this – too many adults have forgotten.

Slow down, take a stroll through a forest and feel the magic.

 

Note: All these photos show trees the children and I have connected with while on nature walks in our area.

Transportation

Many years ago I purchased an older 11 passenger van for the daycare.  It was a wonderful investment because we were now able to go places that we had never been able to visit before.  We went to see animals on farms; we hiked forest trails and explored wild wooded areas.  We went to museums and exhibits on the other side of town – places we couldn’t reach by foot.

Certainly we could have taken the transit bus to some of these places but that would have cut our ‘discovery’ time in half as we would have needed much more travel time.  We could have also chartered a school bus but that can be expensive and I can’t take the babies on the school bus so I have to take them in a separate vehicle and have an adult helper accompany the children on the bus.  The van was definitely a more convenient option.

There were issues with the van too though.  First of all, I wasn’t comfortable driving it.  I should point out that I don’t really like to drive at all.  I consider driving to be a very stressful experience and therefore I avoid driving when there are added ‘hazards’ – things like heavy traffic, unfamiliar territory and most of all – parking.  Add to all this that the van was a ‘beast’ and my driving discomfort was multiplied by the magnitude of the vehicle.  I know, if I drove more often then I’d overcome some of these fears – most of them are simply inexperience but I have a school bus driver for a husband — he likes to drive – and it is easy for me to rely on him to drive for me. The problem here was that we had to plan our outings around his work schedule and depending on his route, some days he was only available between 10:30am and 1:00pm.

Then there was the age of the van.  It was old when I bought it and we knew there were things that would eventually need work.  It had now gotten to the point where there was so much work to be done that I really had to wonder if it was worth the investment.  I mean, really, how can I teach the children to respect nature and protect the environment when we go exploring in an old gas guzzling, oil spewing vehicle?
So, I recycled the old van and purchased a smaller more eco-friendly van that only seats 8 and since I cannot transport children in the front seat I can really only take six children on an outing.  This is ok since during the school year when my husband is too busy to drive us the older children are also in school so I usually only have 4 or 5 children.  This means that as long as I can make it back for lunch a trip to library or a nearby attraction — places well within my driving comfort zones — can be planned more frequently.

I planned a visit to the Science Museum and Neon Lights Exhibit for last Friday.  According to the school calendars one of the schools was closed for parent/teacher conferences which meant I would have six children and no ‘must be home by noon’ or 11:30 Kindergarten pick-up schedule to worry about.  Then, two days before the planned outing I discover that there has been a change in the school calendar and the other school is also closed so now I have too many children to fit in the van!  The dilemma – do we cancel the trip or do we try the transit bus?  It is only a 10 minute trip – we could actually walk if the weather was good and the route was more pedestrian friendly.  We opted for the bus and what an experience that was – the children and I had a blast!

On the way there the bus was full so we had to stand.  A few passengers offered us seats but there still were not enough for all of us and there were absolutely no children who preferred to sit instead of standing.  By the end of our ride many of the passengers were near tears – from laughter – because the children had been cheering and squealing with delight throughout the excursion.  Yes, the van is still much easier but the bus was an experience that we will definitely have to try again.

Pioneers

Yesterday we went on a field trip to the Historical Museum of St Jame-Assiniboia.  There we toured the William Brown house -- an authentic Red River Frame home built in 1856.

The children were fascinated by the artifacts and the life of the pioneers.  They were most interested by the kitchen and all its amazing gadgets.  The most horrifying aspect was sharing a small room -- and bed -- with as many as four other family members.

They all agreed that although it was fun to visit, they would not like to be pioneers.