Homeschoolers Take Note!

New In-Depth Nature Series is being offered to homeschoolers at a discounted price. See www.naturessteppingstones.com for details!

Now open for fall registrations

Nature's Stepping Stones is now open for fall registration for Nature Classes, Food Appreciation Classes, and Nature Camps. Please see website for details www.naturessteppingstones.com

Grooming Basics

The campers were very eager to learn how to properly take care of and groom a horse. They also learned all of the major body parts on the horse and colored their pages after the instructor pointed to the corresponding parts on the live horse.

Riding in the Garden

The kids got to ride a pony today around the house and up in the garden.

Learning about herbs

Learning about herbs can be a lot of fun for children and helps them to appreciate and understand the importance of plant life. We learned how to make salad dressing and sun tea using Chamomile, Mint, and Lemon Balm. We learned that Wooly Lamb's Ear was used in the past as a band-aide (some played doctor and had "band-aides" all over :) ). We learned that Peppermint is great worn as a bracelet to keep bugs away. We also smelled a bunch of herbs and tried to identify what they were.

Recycling jelly and pickle jars

Old jelly, pickle, and other food jars make great planters. In fact, you can make a planter out of just about anything. A few weeks ago, the campers made planters out of hiking and baby shoes. This week they used scraps of fabric and recycled jars to make planters for their mint plants to bring home. The mint can be transplanted if the parents would like down the road and it will spread. You just want to make sure you contain it somehow :) We use old tires to keep the mints from spreading too much. But just about anything will work.

Relaxing during free time

Just enjoying being outside during break time. Some kids washed and played catch with the dogs while others played make-believe and relaxed.

Wild Bird Treats

Making pine cone treats for the wild birds. They got really into it! :)

Laying out yogurt treats for the chickens

Setting out the "yogurt soup" the kids made for the chickens...complete with yogurt, oatmeal, peas, and seeds. They also put out a few corn of the cobs to see if the chickens would eat these.

Wild Dens...equipped with moss-thatched roofs!

Testing out the Camouflage

The children came up with a bunch of animals that camouflage themselves...frogs, lizards, fish....I think someone even said an octopus :) ha ha

Getting Camouflaged

Getting ready to go in the woods and build some wild dens.

Pond Studies

Another day in the mud! After our frog hunt, we collected pond water and took it back to camp to take a closer look at it. We used old brushes and spoons and put some of the pond water into clean water to make observations. We also talked about frogs a lot today and the difference between toads and frogs. How they lay their eggs differently, why toads have bumps, how they each hibernate differently in the winter. And some other cool facts about frogs, like the fact that frogs shed their skin and eat the old skin! They seemed to really enjoy their studies today :)