Wild Cub Weekly #2: Explore & Create

Welcome to Week 2 of Wild Cub Weekly!
I hope you all had an enjoyable time picking out or making your Nature Journals! Feel free to post photos of your creations. I'd love to see them!

"The best education does not happen at a desk, but rather engaged in everyday living - hands on, exploring, in active relationship with life." -Vince Gowmon (Author of: Let the Fire Burn: Nurturing the Creative Spirit of Children)

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​Earthly Events

Did you get to see the Full Moon during the last night of year 2020 and/or the first morning of year 2021? In December, the Full Moon is referred to as the Cold Moon, and in January it is the Wolf Moon.

This week, January 13th, will be the New Moon of the month. 
This is when the light of the sun does not touch the moon,
sometimes creating an eclipse.
On earth, New Moons can create the highest ocean tides!

Later in the month, January 28th,
will be another Full Moon, or Wolf Moon. 
This is when our moon is fully illuminated,
this helps animals move around and communicate at night!

Photo: Blue Job Mountain - Strafford, NH 

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Let's Explore!

Winter is a great time to start planning for your garden, ordering new seed varieties or saving seeds from last years crop and exploring the woods for wild plants that are displaying their seeds! Collect some of the wild growing seeds, and see if you can grow them inside. What do their seedlings look like? Do you know what type of plant it is? Who do you think eats them? Send in pictures. we can help each other identify them!
After harvesting the seeds, spray water on a paper towel and place it in a resealable plastic bag. Place your seeds in the bag so you can see them and seal up the bag leaving a little air for room. You now have made a mini greenhouse!

Parents: This covers science and self-reliance, fine-motor skills, patience and following a sequence of steps.

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"Sit Spots"

Do you have a favorite place in your backyard? If a spot has not come to mind, let's find one! This place is going to be special to you, where you can see yourself being able to sit or stand for periods of time. It is quite important that this is a place that you can find quietness away from human chatter. You want to be able to take in all your senses; the smells from the dirt you might be sitting near, the sounds of squirrels rustling in the leaves above or below, the taste of the air as you take a big inhale through your mouth, what you see as a small bug catches your eye and the feel of the rough textured rock you might be sitting on. As you eventually find your Sit Spot, spend about 5-10 minutes writing or drawing what you notice with your senses in your Nature Journal. As the seasons change, and you come back to this spot time and time again, it will be amazing to see what changes! 
What does this place make you think or wonder about?
Please, feel free to post your first "Sit Spot" journal entry! I can't wait to hear your experience!

Parents:
"Sensory integration is simply taking in all of the stimuli detected by the senses (smells, sights, sounds, temperature, balance, gravity)... The more exposure your child has to sensory experience throughout the day, the more integrated and organized the brain, senses, and body become."
- from Balanced and Barefoot - pg. 54 and 55

Photo: Trail at end of Second Crown Pt. Rd. in Strafford. Part of the Blue Hills

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Parent Resources

Podcast (found on Spotify)
Reseeding the food system - an interview with Rowen White by Emergence Magazine Podcast

Book (Thriftbook.com for 15.95)
Balanced and Barefoot - How Unrestricted Outdoor Play Makes for Strong, Confident and Capable Children
by: Angela J. Hanscom

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"Stay Wild"
-Grace Bailey, Education Consultant