Field Trip - Jordan Lake Educational Forest

This was our last field trip in October - and my last post about October.  I'm getting closer!  :-)  We went to Jordan Lake Educational Forest.  It was a beautiful day.  Love the fog  hanging over the lake as we drove up.  We split up into 2 groups by age.  I stayed with my youngest two.

We split up into 2 groups by age.  I stayed with my youngest two.

We rotated through 3 programs.  We started in this shelter.  Just loved the look of this photo.

The ranger talked with us about paper.  Some of the history and also how it was made.

Then it was time to try it for ourselves.  Scooping up some of the wet pulp and mashing it flat between 2 wire screens.

Rolling it to get out excess water.

Catching it on the other side.

After each of the children had a turn to help in making paper, it was time to switch locations.  We met up with the other group as we were switching.

Next was a presentation on various animals and recognizing them by their size, fur, and more.

Looking at antlers.

And skulls.

And pelts.  Then hearing about these animals.  The ranger mostly talked about animals that lived in our area.

The children liked having an opportunity to touch the fur.

What a great setting to learn about anything!

Our last activity was a game on the predator and prey relationship.

Initially each of the children pretended to be an animal (rabbit) and the ranger handed out food.  Since there were so many of them, the food ran out fairly quickly.

Then owls were added in that could tag the rabbits.  This lowered the rabbit population and more rabbits were able to get food.  It was a fun game.  Not sure how much the youngest ones got from the topic.  (Especially the little cutie in the middle of the square just watching it all.)

Afterwards, we had a picnic lunch and just hung out with our friends.  We explored the forest too.

Heading home and seeing a beautiful sky with clouds.

A last look at the lake.

I love that there are so many wonderful places to see and visit so close to our home!  We have been doing ranger programs for many years with our FIAR group.  It delights me that one of our recent graduates is planning on becoming a park ranger!  I hope our group will have the pleasure of being in one of her classes in the near future!

Blessings
Leslie