In conjunction with our year long exploration of weather and weather patterns, we have begun learning about animals in winter and the different strategies animals use to survive the colder months.  We have read two books on this topic so far:  Animals in Winter by Henrietta Bancroft and Richard Van Gelder  and Over and Under the Snow by Kate Messner.  As we learn about animals in winter we are putting them into three categories:  animals that migrate, animals that hibernate, and animals that stay active.  Ask your child about one animal that fits into each category.

We spent time inside pretending to be woodchucks, first eating lots and lots to store up fat for winter and then finding a place to go into a long sleep, with our breathing and heartbeats slowing way down...for four whole months (really about 2 minutes for us) until the weather grew warmer and we woke up in spring feeling really hungry and much thinner.  Outside children have had fun pretending to be animals in winter with imaginative twists.  One group created an elaborate deer bed, while the whole class spent a recess collecting chunks of ice that represented food for squirrels? foxes?  rabbits? Depends on who you ask!

On Friday morning children had a chance to become squirrels looking for previously hidden food.  Three different color cubes were stashed in the gym representing pine cones, acorns, and apples.  To give the activity a mathematical twist they were challenged to find 5 cubes of at least 2 different colors.  We then used the different color combinations to represent ways of making 5. [I forgot that grades 1-6 were starting the day with an assembly about the ski program and they graciously left most of my cubes exactly where I had placed them, but this gave us an opportunity to talk about animals that might take food hidden by a squirrel if they found a stash.  Bears quickly came to mind.]  We will continue learning about animals in winter in the coming weeks and will have a visit from Carrie at some point for an ECO session at school.