Identification Contest Winner - Eastern Newt

Thank you all for playing along with our little identification contest :)

Our randomly selected winner is: 

Jessica, who said: Allana (2) says its a orange lizard

Dominic (4) says it is a red little lizard out for a walk.

(The children's comments are the cutest.)

I believe our little creature is an Eastern Newt.  It really was a cool find as many friends of mine who hike and are outdoors often around here reached out to tell me they have never come across one.  

Jessica - be sure to visit the Little Acorn Learning website with your children and decide which e-book you would like for FREE!  Email us at info (at) littleacornlearning.com to let us know.

Thank you all for participating!

xoxo

Forest Preschool and An Identification Contest Win a FREE E-Book~

I'm back to doing my Forest Preschool program in town and I have come to realize that I've been focusing on some really important things lately but I have really missed working with children.

Every Thursday my friend and I do a craft, hike, scavenger hunt, lunch and activities with the children at a local park across from the library.

 We go to a different part of the park each week and the children are so sweet and have the best time.  This session only had four children enroll. We also have a Nature Club program beginning on Saturdays for older children. I hope we can attract more children in the area and grown the program.  It's so important for children to learn to appreciate the natural world and their local area.

I'm hoping that I can gather a group of parents interested in another similar program so I can tailor it to their needs.

Today we took a walk up and visited our town's community garden.  The children thought it was pretty neat that people shared a garden together.   I've never visited there before today so it was nice for me to see too. I have my own veggie garden but really love the idea of sharing a common space and any extra produce can be donated to our local food pantry.

Oh, by the way!!!!.... I AM GETTING CHICKENS!  I've wanted them for so long and I was finally able to wear my husband down enough for him to give in.  I cannot wait.  I told my little preschoolers that maybe they can help me name the chickens and come visit them.  They should hatch next Wednesday and I will have baby chicks late next week.  I'll be sure to document my adventure :)

We came across many cool discoveries today.  A beautiful flower that I believe came from one of the trees above us...

A little inchworm...

And JUST as we were leaving to meet parents we found this little guy!  In all my years working outside in this area, I've never seen anything remotely close to it.  Connecticut is not crawling with lizards and reptiles under our feet so it was a rare treat to see...

He was tiny.. maybe 2".  Can you do some research with your children and identify him?  If you homeschool or like to supplement your child's education with nature learning - use this as a fun opportunity to let your child do some research either online or at the local library.

When your child thinks he or she knows what the name of this little guy is... post it in the comments of this post along with your child's first name and location. You can also share a link if you want. Come back here on Monday, June 1st and we will randomly pick a few of the comments to WIN a free e-book of your choice from Little Acorn Learning!

Remember to let your child do the work - winners will be random and not based on the correct answer.

Best of luck!  

Garden in Bloom and More

I can finally share some garden photos.  The ground really wasn't even ready for planting until early June this year so I feel like things are moving slow for us.  We expanded the garden by three more square foot boxes and planted all different types of vegetables this year including:  romaine lettuce, eggplant, broccoli, cabbage, brussel sprouts, peppers, melon, watermelon, pumpkin, kale, acorn squash, spaghetti squash, zucchini, tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, leeks, potatoes, radishes, onions, celery, asparagus, peas, green beans, snap peas, grapes, raspberries, blueberries, oregano, rosemary, sage, spearmint, peppermint, thyme and basil. 

Whew that was a mouthful!

I've already been dealing with my share of pests.  Flea beetles, cabbage worms (were SUCH a nightmare last year and I'm having anxiety that they are coming back), beetles and more.  So far, I've managed ok just picking them off but it's tedious.  I'm committed to keeping everything organic but it sure isn't easy.  In addition to veggies, we have a few beautiful flowers coming up too. 

In other news, I was unsuccessful in convincing my husband to allow me to get chickens but he did agree to rabbits.  We named our first bunny Jellybean and fell in love with her right away.  We didn't want her to be lonely so I educated myself about how to identify the sex of bunnies and found another beautiful female bunny for her.  Things were going wonderfully at first and they were truly bonded.  Then, one day, I went to pick them up out of the cage and they were snuggling but I noticed blood.  Then I noticed the new bunny's ear was bitten off!  I'm not kidding you.  Bitten off!  I was prepared to spay them as I know females can get territorial but they were still very young.  Look no further if you are squeamish... 

Needless to say, they now are in separate hutches.  Something leads me to believe that chickens would have been a lot easier but what do I know!

Moving forward... many cool things are taking place around our yard.  My daughter Maia was surprised to see that her Softball Helmet was occupied by a Mama Wren who wanted a safe nest for her babies!  How cool is this?  

Can you see her?  We now have five baby eggs on our front porch that we can wait and watch until they hatch!  

Dee is not coming home this summer.  It's hard because I miss her so much.  But she has been provided with a wonderful opportunity working with her Dean on an amazing internship.  We've set her up in a summer dorm.  She did come up for a long weekend last week and the girls (and me!) were so happy to have her here.  You are never really ready for them to fly the nest and then after they do there are all of these other "letting go" moments you didn't expect.  I'm not sure I'll ever get used to it.  

School is out and we celebrated by going to the beach with friends.  The last few days we've done hardly anything... just hanging around reading, doing puzzles, swimming and relaxing.  It feels good but the girls do get bored easily.  Luckily, I know that boredom breeds creativity so I'm hanging tough.  I look forward to a really great, old fashioned type of summer with the girls.

And finally, I wanted to host this little spider as my next Identification Contest but I CAN'T FIGURE OUT what type he is!!!! Does anyone know?  I've found some photos that are close but just not it.

Identification Contest Winner and Wintery Scenes....

Well, my intentions are always good but sometimes life gets a hold of me and I just can't keep up.  I apologize for the delay of announcing our Bird Identification Winner!  

We asked parents to have their children do a bit of research and try to identify two birds here in Connecticut.

Bird 1:

 This is Bird 1 also but the female:

 Bird 2:

We had lots of comments and are so proud of all the children who worked so hard to get the correct answers!  The birds are:

Bird #1 - Eastern Towhee

Bird #2 - Carolina Wren

Now to randomly select a winner who will get to pick any e-book off of the Little Acorn Learning website for free......

The winner is:

*Isaac*

"This is my answer:  Bird #1 is the Eastern Towhee.  Bird #2 is the House Wren.  My name is Isaac, and I am 8 years old. I love bird watching, and I used my bird book to identify these birds."

Congratulations!  Please email us at info (at) littleacornlearning.com to claim your prize!

Now for a few photos of the busy winter we've been having here (I hope you're not getting sick of them!): 

What's the weather like by you?

Bird Identification Contest!

 This Red-Bellied Woodpecker came to our feeders today.  We've seen this type of bird other years but this was the first time this winter that he's made an appearance and it was pretty exciting.  

This is the Tufted Titmouse.  He is here often with all of his buddies.  A very pretty bird but common at our feeder so we don't get as excited when he visits us.  :)

 I must sound like an old lady but I absolutely LOVE sitting at my dining table every morning and watching the birds each day.  I get my coffee and my computer for writing and I make sure I can see right out of the window.  How lucky am I that I can intertwine my personal life and my work in this way?  

I recently put out new feed including meal worms (I know, yuck but a good source of protein for many of the birds during the cold months) and suet and now we are getting a variety of different birds which is really fun.

This is the female Downy Woodpecker.  They are common year-round in Connecticut.  The male looks the same but has a red spot on the back of his head and that is how I can tell the difference.  This is another common woodpecker that we have seen in years past but haven't yet this winter until we put out the suet.  This bird looks identical to the Hairy Woodpecker but it is much smaller (about 6").

Of course, we always love seeing the cardinals.  I see the males more frequently than the females so I love it when she comes for a visit.  I wonder if the males are the ones who tend to bring the food back to the nest more and that is why I see them more often?  I know their call now by heart and can hear when they are on the back deck before I even see them.  There is something about the coloring of the female cardinal that I find so subtly beautiful.

 I also see a ton of Blue Jays but they are very bossy and take over the feeders when they come around.  They are very pretty but I just don't like their attitude much ;) 

Here we have the male Dark-Eyed Junco.  Another very common bird at my feeders.  They migrate from Canada to Connecticut so we see them more in the winter time.  I'm not sure why they bother anymore as Connecticut has been just as cold as up north the last few winters.  I actually wonder if the migrating of birds will change after seeing our climate shift so much recently.  At one point, I had a dream of buying a winter cabin in Vermont to enjoy the snow and quad riding but it seems Connecticut is the new Vermont these days and we won't really have to budge.

I'm pretty sure this bird is a Song Sparrow.  I know it is a sparrow but can't seem to find a good picture match in my field guides and the Song Sparrow was as close as I could find.  

Here is another new bird and this one I have never seen at our feeders before.  It is the White-Throated Sparrow.  There are two variations of this type of sparrow and the one we have is the white-striped kind (not the tan-striped one).  Really beautiful and it was fun trying to discover what type of bird it was.

 Another frequent visitor is this guy, the Black-Capped Chickadee.  We see them ALL the time so again, while very pretty, the excitement gets lost after awhile. 

Years ago, we created this wonderful Bird Chart for our home.  We drew pictures of the most common birds that come to our feeder and put tally marks next to them whenever we see them.  I'm considering making a new chart soon as we've used this one QUITE a bit... but it is a fun activity and something you should try at home if you have the time.

 NOW I want to challenge you!  There are two more *brand new birds* that I saw at my feeder today that I've never seen before.  I've figured out what type of birds they are after doing some research but can you and your children?  

Take your time to look at both photos and either research in the library or online with your children to discover what type of birds they are.  Remember, we live in Connecticut.  

Parents - do your best to let the children do most of the research with your help and use this as a nature enrichment activity if possible...

Bird #1  

Bird #2

Once you think you know what type of birds they are, post in the comments section of this post with your guesses and your name.  On February 19th (one week from today), we will randomly choose a winner from the comments section and announce it on our blog.  It will not matter if you get the names right or not, we just want you to give it a good try so let the children decide what they think the right answers are.  

The winner will receive a FREE E-Book of their choice from Little Acorn Learning filled with even more wonderful activities to do with your children! 

Good luck and I hope you enjoy this project as a fun nature lesson to share with your class or family. 

xoxo