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: Tuesdays & Thursdays
Participants will:
• Develop an understanding of seasonal changes in the Rio Grande Valley by exploring plant and wildlife.
February 4th - Aquatic Landscapes
What is a wetland? Explore the bountiful layers of an aquatic ecosystem with your tot at Ruby Pond! Tots will observe and match these layers on an Aquatic Landscape learning board
- • Begin with Tree Trunk Story: What Lives at the Pond? By: Caroline Hutchinson & Where’s Mr. Duck? By: Ingela P. Arrhenius
- • Develop an understanding of an aquatic ecosystem through a Pond Watch
- • Practice cognitive and fine-motor skills with a matching game of nonliving and living organism to reflect their pond landscape observations
- • Engage in Peaceful Pond Process Art reflecting the aquatic landscape.
February 6th - Micro Organisms and Biodiversity
Continue exploring the layers of an aquatic landscape by collecting microorganism for observation! Who in the ecosystem eats these microorganisms? Bring your tot to investigate the small but very mighty beings in the pond!
- • Begin with a Tree Trunk Story: At the Pond, By: JoAnne Nelson & Turtle Splash! By: Cathryn Falwell
- • Develop an understanding of biodiversity in an aquatic ecosystem through microorganism observation.
- • Practice cognitive and physical/gross-motor skills through the process of collecting algae and the invertebrates found within.
- • Participate in a trail walk exploring the ponds throughout our forest and observing the different species of wildlife.
February 11th - Terrestrial Thorn Forest – Turkey Vultures
What is a scavenger and why do they fly high in the sky in large groups? Tots will explore the lifestyle of nature's clean-up crew, through an interactive SCAVENGER-hunt trail.
- • Begin with a Tree Trunk Story: What’s Up? By: Olivia Conseau & What Can A Bird See? By: John Serrano
- • Develop an understanding of a Turkey Vulture through their defining characteristics.
- • Practice cognitive and fine-motor skills with a Turkey Vulture Meal Craft. What different species does a Turkey Vulture enjoy eating?
- • Engage in a sensory-based interactive scavenger hunt trail that allows you to explore how Turkey Vultures find their food and what they look out for.
February 13th - Practicing Reciprocity for Valentine’s Day
Bring your tot to show gratitude for our feather friends through creating heart ornament bird feeders. After a trail walk and identifying South Texas birds, tots will participate in a Red-Cardinal Valentine Gram circle.
- • Begin with a Tree Trunk Story: Baby’s First Book of Birds & Colors, By: Phyllis Limbacher Tildes & I Will Keep You Safe and Sound, By: Lori Haskins Houran
- • Identify the characteristics of Red Cardinals and other South Texas birds
- • Practice social/emotional skills as children are encouraged to express kindness, positivity and consideration through the act of creating valentine’s grams.
- • Engage in stewardship by creating heart ornament bird feeders.
February 18th - Desert Ecosystem
What is a Desert? Who lives in a Desert? What is in Bloom? Have you heard of our friends Yucca or Prickly Pear? Bring your tot to explore desert flora, how they have changed this season, and the structures that make them who they are.
- • Begin with a Tree Trunk Story: Georgia O’ Keefe Loved the Desert, By: Gibb Smith & Welcome to The Lizard Lounge, By: Laura Hambleton
- • Participate in a trail walk exploring native flora of a desert ecosystem.
- • Practice visual-spatial awareness by exploring plant geometry.
- • Engage in a mini desert excavation to find the animals who benefit from the growth of cacti & desert flora (reptiles, mammals, birds, insects, etc)
February 20th - Desert Ecosystems- Indigo Snake
Who is the Texas Indigo Snake? Bring your tot to explore an inhabitant of Texas desert ecosystems, where the hide, and how their physical form helps them survive.
- • Begin with a Tree Trunk Story: Hide and Snake, By: Keith Baker & Hatch, By: Katie Cox.
- • Participate in a trail walk exploring the desert ecosystem.
- • Develop an understanding of the life cycle of a snake.
- • Engage in “The Shapes of an Indigo Snake” art activity.
February 25th - Urban Forests Ecosystems
What is Manmade? What is Natural? – How do people co-exist with wildlife? Bring your tot to explore the natural world within our forest, the surrounding urban world, and how the two merge to make a fully functioning ecosystem for both wildlife & mankind to enjoy.
- • Begin with a Tree Trunk Story: Little Land, By: Diane Sudeyka, & ABC EarthFriendly Me BY Christiane Engel.
- • Participate in a Visual Sensory Scavenger Hunt trail walk exploring both forest and urban factors.
- • Practice phonemic awareness by observing environmental sounds.
- • Engage in utilizing gifts from the natural and urban world in a multi-media collage, allowing both to coexist in one masterpiece.
February 27th - Plants and People
Who are the native plants that can be observed around us currently? How can we give back to the forest and to plant life? Bring your tot to explore native flora & show appreciation for the natural world through artistic expression and environmental stewardship.
- • Begin with a Tree Trunk Story: ABC Earth Friendly Me, By: Christine Engel & 10 Things I Can Do to Help My World, By: Melanie Walsh
- • Participate in a trail walk exploring native flora of our forest- from flowers, to trees and grass.
- • Practice social/emotional skills by participating in collaborative artistic expression through a garden mural, celebrating the plant life.
- • Engage in stewardship by gardening a native plant within our forest.
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