As our outing for Forest Friends week, we took a trip to a local state park for a walk on a hiking trail. I did some research on the state park website before going to get an idea of what trails would be an appropriate length and terrain for our novice walker. Of course...none of that research mattered because we couldn't find the trail I picked out when we got to the park and ended up on a different one anyway. It was a nice easy "trail" around the lake, but unfortunately didn't offer as much of a "forest" atmosphere as I had hoped for, given our theme.
We did, however, spot lots of wildflowers, trees, reeds, and some wildlife - including a family of deer and beautiful male red-winged blackbird.
We did, however, spot lots of wildflowers, trees, reeds, and some wildlife - including a family of deer and beautiful male red-winged blackbird.
Forest Friends Books
We also read two books to accompany our hiking activity - In the Forest by Steph Hinton and I Took a Walk by Henry Cole. In the Forest was a very cute "pull the tab" book that revealed the animals you would see in a forest and showed how the forest changes over each season. It was definitely geared toward a young audience, and pulling the tabs out of the sturdy pages was a fun way toddler to participate. I Took a Walk is probably a better book for a preschool age group. It is an "I-Spy" style book that lists various animals, plants, and other sites you would find in a variety of ecosystems (including a forest, stream, and more). My son definitely did not understand the concept of the list of objects to find, so we sort of did the activity in reverse - he pointed objects out and I helped put names to them using the list they gave. The illustrations were great and I learned a thing or two about identifying some specific insects and birds!