Downstairs: Hibernation

On Monday, we met the maple tree that will be ours to care for this year, named Love. Love is located by the end of the library building, behind the amphitheater. On our first visit, we acquainted (or re-acquainted for returning friends) ourselves with Love. We encouraged friends to get up close to look at and touch Love. What does Love feel like? What do you notice about Love?
"It's a grown up tree."
"It has its name on it."
"It has a ribbon."
"A part of the branch got cut off."
"I think the sap is good inside."
"Love feels happy. Huggy. Hugs makes me happy."
"I see the necklace - I've noticed it before."
We made note of Love's scars from previous taps and talked with eager anticipation about maple sugaring season.

Tuesday was time for veggie soup! Each child had the chance to come to the kitchen and peel and/or chop a vegetable to add to the soup. We were careful to save our discarded veggie scraps for the compost bin as we worked. We used crinkle cutters to chop carrots, zucchini, and celery. Our teachers helped with the onions and garlic. When all of the ingredients were ready, we called the whole class into the kitchen and ceremoniously added a stone to a crockpot filled with broth, along with all the chopped vegetables. Everyone peeked inside and we let the soup simmer all day as we went about our work. When snack time came, we added cooked pasta and the soup was ready to eat! Many friends declared the soup "delicious" and gave it two thumbs up! They insisted we send the "recipe" home :) so keep reading for more!

We have been organizing all our research and knowledge about hibernation, migration, and adaptation into a visual chart, located in our hallway. When we are curious about a particular animal or plant, we add it to a list and then spend some time reading about how that living thing survives winter. While sorting our first group of animals, we realized we need a new category - animals that live in a place where they don't experience a cold winter! We used tape to create an additional section that we will label. We will continue to research and add to our board, as we still have many wonderings and want to add maple trees and mushrooms in particular!

One of our Morning Message questions this week was: what food would you bring to hibernate? We thought about our favorite foods, what we might want to eat after sleeping for a long time, what would bring us energy, etc and here are the answers of the friends who were eager to share!
Annie - honey

Perryn - cherries

Emily - muffins, the chocolate ones

Sophia - waffles, because I love them

Neta - cereal, because I like to eat it

Isa - spaghetti with red sauce

Eleanor - fish, tuna

Xochitl - spinach, because I like it

Asher - waffles

Nathan - pancakes

Hazel - French Toast, because I love it

Kekeli - cupcakes

Hailey - waffles

Alec - noodles

Max - English Muffins

We have been spinning dreidels in paint, playing with ice, and enjoying the winter vibes both indoors and outside! In addition to our classic "Grizzly Bear" song, we have added a verse to a newer song, "See the Little Bunnies" to represent our sleeping maple trees and learned a song about light in the winter, "Burn, Little Candles." Find the new lyrics here. We are also practicing "We Bid You Good-Night" and "Go to Sleep, Little Maples" for Winter Celebration. We can't believe we only have a week to go!

Stone Soup "recipe"
Chop onions, carrots, celery, and zucchini into bite-sized pieces.
Chop garlic and saute in olive oil.
Add garlic oil to the pot with warmed broth. Add a bay leaf, dried basil, salt, and pepper.
Add a clean ceremonial stone gently to the pot.
Add the chopped vegetables to the broth and spices.
Cook until the vegetables are tender. Add in cooked pasta (optional).
Enjoy!