First Snowy Diary Entries

Following Monday’s snow flurries Broad Oak and the sub zero temperatures Broad Oak had blankets of snow on the fallen logs and an array of mystery footprints for the children to discover and note down in their new nature diaries.

The children also noticed and recorded: birch polypore, turkey tail and cherry chip fungis, ash keys and alder cones and the mysterious markings left behind by the bark beetle. Nuthatch heard the woodpecker which was most probably our resident lesser spotted woodpecker (although we did not see it to confirm) and Dragonfly saw a Treecreeper through her her binoculars. When Whitebeam group sat for lunch a large branch overhanging the lake was suddenly disturbed and the whole group saw a hungry heron landing hoping to grab some lunch too. Unlike our friendly robins, who closely circle the perimeter of the fire circle whilst the children eat their lunch, the heron was not so keen on company for lunch and no sooner had she landed then she impressively launched herself off again to find another quieter dinner spot!

They wondered how big herons were? if alder cones are related to pine cones? Why the birch polypore had no gills? Whether it was alive because the tree it was growing on was dead? How many different mushrooms are in the wood? What type of animals made the footprints?

The bark beetle marking reminded them of hieroglyphics, the birch polypore reminded them of a Venus fly trap and a an upside down mushroom.

By noticing things and writing them in their diaries, the children are freeing up space in their brain to notice more things…helping their brains to grow and learn more!
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By wondering about things and asking questions, they are sparking their curiosity. When our curiosity is awakened the chemical dopamine is released in our system. Dopamine makes us feel excited and happier!

By making connections in our nature diaries between the new things we have noticed and things that our familiar to we are creating pathways in our brain to help us remember new things. These connections can be creative, daft or accurate as long as they resonate with the individual they will help them remember.

And of course, connecting with nature is wonderful for your well-being so we hope these nature diaries bring joy to our Year 4s and we look forward to seeing how they develop!

Footprints in the snow & Nature Diaries