Summer Picnics

Finishing up morning snack.

One of the great things about summer is being able to eat outside!  In the mornings we move the tables into a shady area and enjoy our a.m. snack outside.  The kids love it, the grown-ups love it, and the ants love it :)  

 

We are going BATTY!

Our naturalist, Ms. Jessica, came today to talk about bats and how
they are helpful to the environment.  

She started off by reading "Stellaluna" by Janell Cannon.

The children had fun trying to hang from their feet just like Stellaluna. 

Ms. Jessica said the scientific name for a bat is Chiroptera "hand wing"
because the skeleton that supports the wing is composed of 
the animal's elongated finger bones. 

She had a finger bat puppet to show us their wings.

The children closed their eyes as Ms. Jessica
moved around the room and shook a shaker. 

She was demonstrating how bats hear and find bugs at night.

They pointed to where they thought the sound was coming from.

 We played the bat echo game.

 Ms. Jessica also brought in wooden pieces to make a bat house that the children helped put together. 

 Each one had a turn hammering the nails into the side of the bat house. 

Very good eye - hand skills were taking place.

Now that the bat house is complete we will find a place outside to 

hang it and watch to see if any bats decided to make it their home.