March’s Littlest Learners Nature Notes

It is finally spring! I know we are all happy to feel the warmer weather arrive! Each day we spot a new plant growing and flowering! The days have been starting off pretty chilly in the early morning and by afternoon we are down to just our base layers. The kids have noticed a pattern in the weather. It is cold in the early morning, warm by afternoon, and gets cold again by evening time. As we go through spring the warmer time of the day will slowly start to get longer and the cold parts of our day will slowly get shorter! We have noticed a lot more insects buzzing and crawling around. We have spotted centipedes, rollie pollies, all different kinds of beetles, butterflies, moths, flies, ladybugs, and even some honey bees and bumblebees! We know that a lot of these insects are important pollinators around our campus.  Since spotting more insects out and about there have also been more birds flying around and we have even seen lots of lizards around!

We have had quite a few rainy days this month. The excess rain has caused our creek to run a bit faster than usual. The faster creek has made creek play a lot of fun! Friends have been really enjoying rerouting the creek. They dig in the mud to make different paths for the water and have even built dams to block the water so it can only travel in the direction they want. Some friends spotted salamanders while playing in the creek and even spotted a few cranefly larvae!

Even though being outside in the rain all day can be difficult we know that it is so important to help water the plants so they can grow!  When it is rainy outside the kids know to wear lots of layers and the most important layer is our outer waterproof layer. We can run around jumping in puddles and play in the rain without getting the inside of our clothes wet!

The kids love spotting new plants growing around campus! We have identified violets, crocuses, purple deadnettle, bloodroot, golden ragwort, toothwort, tulips, and dandelions! Perennials planted in previous years are starting to pop up and bring excitement! We have started helping in the garden and with the warm weather arriving we will be much more involved!

As we are leaving worm moon we look forward to even more new growth and life in pink moon! Worm moon brought a taste of spring to us. We noticed lots of worms emerging and preparing the soil with nutrients and aerating it. We know that worms play an important part in our ecosystem and seeing worms can be a good sign of healthy soil! As we enter pink moon, we will embrace spring and new growth in our lives! I know we are all excited for warmer and longer days! 

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