Forest Tots

Our weekly outdoor learning experiences are designed for youth to explore, engage, learn and play! Find a program which may interest your child! Please check the Calendar of Events for dates and times.

 

• Date: Tues and Thurs

• Time: 10:00 am - 11:30 am

• Ages: 3yrs - 5yrs

• Fee: $5.00 - ticketleap.events/events/quintamazatlan

• Program description: Drop in with your tot and participate in an Outdoor Learning Environment (OLE!) and nature-based driven curriculum where seasonal phenomena will be explored though story, sensory play, nature art and walks through the forest.

Participants will:

• Develop an understanding of seasonal changes in the Rio Grande Valley by exploring plant and wildlife.
• Learn ecological processes through age appropriate activities.
• Practice stewardship and reciprocity through acts of service and kindness around our urban sanctuary.
• Gain confidence and autonomy through socialization between children of a similar age range and the ecological community.
• Generate a lasting and caring relationship with the more-than-human world, developing leadership and interest in civic engagement.

 

 

September 15 - Manzanita

Have you ever noticed the tall red flowers loved by hummingbirds and butterflies? Bring your tot to meet Manzanita, their neighbors and explore the parts that make them all they are. 

Tots will:

  • · Begin with Welcoming Song and a Tree Trunk Story. The "Reason for a Flower" by Ruth Heller.
  • · Participate in Nature Play Flower Deconstruction. 
  • · Engage in a sensory trail walk, noticing who is around the flowers and ethically harvesting Manzanita for tot tea circle.
  • · Practice verbally describing flowers and feelings through telling and re-telling. 

 

September 17 - Pollination Pathways

Protecting our pollinators begins with noticing the paths they take, and who they take them with. Bring your tot to explore the pathway of pollination through wonder and in witness of bees, birds and butterflies. 

Tots will:

  • · Begin with Welcoming Song and a Tree Trunk Story. "Protect our Pollinators" by Rachael Rose Zoller.
  • · Participate in Pollination Play Provocation. 
  • · Engage in child-led Pollinator Pathway trail walk, identifying different pollinators. 
  • · Practice predicting patterns through noticing patterns of pollinators during their daily routines. 

 

September 22 - Magic of Migration: Birds

Hummingbirds and other avian friends are at the peak of migration! Bring your tot to the stories of the different birds passing through: I wonder where they are coming from, I wonder where they are going.

Tots will:

  • · Begin with Welcoming Song and a Tree Trunk Story.
  • · Participate in feather play provocation. 
  • · Engage in birding trail walk, noticing details and describing traits of birds.
  • · Create bird seed feeders in reciprocity to our friends.

 

September 24 - Hummingbirds

Fast and courageous, tiny and mighty- There is much appreciate about South Texas hummingbirds! Tots will explore how Hummingbird hovers, rests and live in relation to the world around them.

Tots will:

  • · Begin with Welcoming Song and a Tree Trunk Story.
  • · Participate in 'Sipping Nectar' Provocation.
  • · Engage in Hummingbird Finger Puppet Pollinator Craft and trail walk.
  • · Practice language and literacy by making predictions about hummingbird behavior.

 

September 29 - The Color Brown

From the bark of Anacua Trees to the feathers of Clay Colored Thrush, the color brown is ever lush in our forest. Bring your tot to explore the nature of brown, from beings gathering to eat Anacua Berries, to the living breathing soil that holds us on the ground. 

Tots will:

  • · Begin with Welcoming Song and a Tree Trunk Story.
  • · Participate in mud play provocations. 
  • · Engage in Clay Colored Thrush connection trail. 
  • · Practice building a sense of place through the color brown. 

 

October 1 - There's something Super! About soil

Soil is different from dirt, so what makes it so super? Tots will explore what soil is made of and how it helpful to life all around, supporting animals, plants and people. 

Tots will:

  • · Begin with Welcoming Song and a Tree Trunk Story.
  • · Participate in 'Types of Soil' investigation.  
  • · Engage in a water filtering experiment. 
  • · Practice reasoning and problem solving through observing the role of soil within an ecosystem.

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