On Wednesday we read “Our Skin”, which is part of our First Conversations curriculum. You can read more about that wonderful book series on our website.

On Wednesday, we found gigantic leaves after Tuesday night’s rainstorm. Kylie shared with us the ways leaves may grow much larger than normal to absorb the most sunlight possible from a shady location.

A handful of students took turns snapping photos with Kylie’s phone. Enjoy this brilliant “kid photography”’!

We had a magical day of making on Thursday! The group worked together to prepare for and build a fire to both keep us cozy and to heat the black walnuts to make dye. We continued our fire safety discussion, raked the leaves away from the fire ring, and gathered various sizes of twigs and limbs. Kylie demonstrated “catching a spark” with flint and steel, and we ended up with a beautiful pot of rich, brown dye.

We had the most festive Friday! Forest dress up was a hit, and the students took turns dressing up in various costumes! On the way to the forest site, we stopped at the crows nest to check on the black walnut dye. We talked about the hypotheses given yesterday about what color dye the black walnuts (which are green!) might produce. Yellow, pink, brown, and black were among the guesses, and they students were thrilled when the dye pot lid was removed to reveal the answer! We removed the black walnuts, and the children took turns gently pressing wool yarn and cotton fabric into the dye. When we come back together on Tuesday, we’ll rinse the fibers in the pot. The yarn will be used for handwork projects and the fabric will be used for the Autumn piece of the phenology wheel.

We’re wishing you all a safe and very fun Halloween weekend!