We started off our week with a homeschool field trip at Civic Garden Center for their Lil Sprouts program.

This is a FREE group that meets every 2nd and 4th Monday of the month from 9 – 10:30 am, designed for children ages 3-8. Each meeting includes different themes and activities. This week’s theme was birds.

First, we made Nesting Balls for the birds who are beginning to return from their winter migration as the seasons are preparing to swift. These balls are meant to be hung outside for birds to use the organic materials to build their nest.

There was a table set up with the materials we could use to make our balls. All material were organic and safe for the birds. The girls used a lot of moss, alpaca fur, and twigs.

We took the materials back to our table and made our balls. I love how they turned out! And they will be perfect to hang near the birdhouses the girls have all been working on over the winter. We hope that the birds love them too!

After we made our Nesting Balls, we listened to the story The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle. Then we went outside for a group Nature Hike to listen & watch for birds with binoculars. We used the Merlin App on our phones which luckily all participating families already had downloaded!

Sasha had the great idea of looking on the cable wires near the main road to see birds. She said she thought of that because that is where all the birds always are. We were able to spot an American Robin because of her idea! We also heard a Cardinal – our state bird – but we didn’t see it.

We were really excited to see flowers beginning to bloom. We named different flowers that we saw – at least 4 different kinds! We were particularly excited about the abundance of Crocus! We also checked on the tree sap collected in buckets through a tap that they set up in a past Lil Sprouts meeting. We got the taste the fresh sap which surprisingly had very little flavor prior to being boiled.

We finished our hike and headed back to the classroom to close out our meeting. I am so glad that we found this place! Sasha has already asked to begin regularly attending the Lil Sprouts classes and Moses said he wanted to come to our next meeting as well. I’m excited to find out what the next theme will be!

The Civic Garden Center also offers a variety of really neat & useful classes for both adults and families. There is also a super cute gift shop with all kinds of items for your gardening needs! I’m really glad that we found this place & am excited to incorporate it into our regular homeschool schedule!

Until next time ♡ Mama Morozov