
Hello Arroyo Nature School families,
What a rainy season it has been! The children have been wearing all of their proper gear and ready to explore in the rain. We know how much work it takes to get the children ready and excited to go out into the cold outdoors. The layering has really made a difference, so thank you for the hard work! They have been so much warmer and eager to splash around in the puddles. The puddles and flowing streams have really excited the group on our adventures. We have been doing a lot more walks around to keep our bodies warm and see the new plant growth that the rain has brought to us.


Some of us have never been in a tent before. This was our first time stepping into one as a shelter. We could feel the difference in temperatures inside and out.

The streams have brought new plants and bugs into the fresh water. This has been a great spot for Mallards, Egrets and other birds to search for food. We are hoping we will spot an Egret this year!


On our walks, we have challenged ourselves during these rainy days. We've climbed up the staircases and observed the wash from above. You can often hear us shouting "Hello down there!" to anyone walking by. We also quietly listen to how powerful the water is in the wash. It can be very loud at times. During this season, we are definitely learning about the flow and power the water can bring.

During one of our long walks, we checked out the river that had a quick current flowing over rocks. We talked about the mountains and the melting snow that creates this rushing water flow. The children made boats with leaves and parts of tree bark and watched them float down past us. Sometimes we tried other natural materials to see what would float. Small rocks sank. Clumps of sand sank too. We worked to figure out what we could use to make a boat.
The children were imagining themselves in the tiny boats. They were all boarding and getting ready for the wild ride ahead.
You could hear the children saying their goodbyes to their friends leaving on their boats.
"Bye everybody! See you later!"
"I'm leaving now, bye!"
"Be careful out there!"


The children were excited to find another structure being built in the park. We looked at how the branches were joined together to hold the smaller branches up. We noticed all the clumps of long grass that was used to build up the walls on the outside. Some of the children loved to sit inside and look at all of the branches around them.
This opened up conversations about how other homes and structures are made.
We talked about how homes were made just this way many years ago. Some used mud to build up their walls and to keep their home protected. Using the nature around them was key to building a home.
A spout from the bridge of above us was rushing with water. We gathered close together under the water to feel the heavy drops on our rain gear.

The rain has grown some happy, healthy plants lately! We have been chomping on some of the stems of the Sour grass while we take a break on our walks.
We have been so excited to find so many Golden Currant shrubs growing all over the park! The flowers are blooming and we just noticed that berries are starting to come in. We cannot wait to eat some berries soon.


There have been an abundance of mushrooms all through the park! We have been observing their colors, size and shape. Although they are sometimes strange looking, they are also living things and we need to treat them respectfully. They are delicate, so we work on just looking at them. Sometimes we look VERY closely.



The moss has been happily appearing on all sorts of boulders and tree branches. The greenery of these plants has been beautiful to see. When we see them, we can't help but feel how soft they are on these hard rocks. They love the moisture and they have been soaking up all of this extra rain.
The hillsides are covered in a lovely yellow from these California Brittlebush flowers. Although they look similar to sunflowers, they are actually in the daisy family! The children loved sniffing them. Since there were so many growing, we allowed the children to pluck one for each hand. We remind them why it is important to leave plants for animals to eat and bees to pollinate.
It is pretty sweet when the children tell us who they would like to gift their flowers to at home. It is usually a parent, grandparent or friend. They will hold these flowers for a long time too. It can be a majority of our walk that they will hold them tight. Along with special "crystals" and rocks. Sometimes these little gifts are so important to them and we respect that.



We observed the changes the rain brought to the walking paths at school. The children were amazed by the crevices the water created. We talked about how water can move things and change them. They formed their own paths and built bridges around these areas. A couple others worked on forming a dam to stop the water from traveling further down.

This has been a favorite spot to dig and work really hard as a construction vehicle. There was excavating, smoothing, pouring and scooping happening with intense focus.
Using our dramatic play fabrics, a child and teacher create a sturdy swing in the Tiny Treehouse. Having simple fabrics to explore and find ways to utilize is fantastic for imaginary play! Sometimes they are clothing, walls, beds, pillows, head gear, doors and swings!


We found a hidden meadow area full of clovers. We enjoyed sitting around them and taking a little relaxing break.
Sometimes there are little discoveries inside of tree trunks. We have found some to be hollow, full of dead leaves or sometimes even new plant life growing from the inside.

When we sit to watch the mini front loader or other trucks go by, we chat about what we see ahead. There are conversations about what the truck is doing and where it is going. Other times we sing and make up our own songs as the time goes by.


A Park Maintenance worker found a bird's nest in the fallen eucalyptus tree. They kindly handed it to us to keep. We loved taking turns to hold it. It was very large with the softest bits of natural materials woven into it.
We passed it around and talked about our ideas of what bird/s could have built this large nest. The nest had natural fibers from plants, little feathers and bits of twigs. There were also bits of string embedded in it too. It is a lot of hard work for the birds to build a nest and we talked about how long it must have taken.


In this pepper tree, the children work hard to build a home. They lay fabrics over the thick branches to form a roof too. This home will soon be ready for "The three little pigs" story to be narrated and acted out.

Some of us love to watch the water moving down the wash. It is a daily visit for us to check in and see how strong the water is moving.
We are so lucky that we get to see the horses almost every day. On our walk, we head over to say hello to the horses and watch them gallop around the horse arena area.

Here are some of Jane's observations:
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Z.K: I wish I could be the water.
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L.F puts his hand to ear and pretends to talk on the phone.
L.F: Hello, roly poly? I miss you. I don't know where I dropped you.
L.F. puts his hand down.
L.F: My roly poly talked to me. He said " goo goo gaa gaa goona" because he miss me.
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Jose: What would you do if you found a dinosaur fossil?
R.R: But dinosaurs are not real.
Jose: They were real.
R.R: A long time ago
Jose: That's what I'm saying. They were real a long time ago. What would you do if you found a dinosaur bone?
R.R: Put in in the treasure box.
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A.A: Every time I say, "What's wrong, baby?" my baby squeaks out of my arms. Maybe its the batteries. Let me check the batteries.
L.R: I don't have batteries! (laughs)
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V.C. finds a piece of bark on the ground. She puts two sticks on it.
V.C: I have two babies
She pulls the bark.
V.C: This is the stroller.
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Z.O. sits in the dirt. She has a circle pebble in front of her.
Z.O: This is my garden. I'm making mushroom flowers for dinner.
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J.M. holds a magnifying glass and places a toyon berry on top of it.
J.M: Look at the berry. It's really bigger.
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F.D-F. runs with his hands in his pockets.
F.D-F: Wee yoo wee yoo. This is how you run faster.
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Thank you for reading our latest newsletter! We hope you are having a great weekend!
Arroyo Nature School
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