Happy Feet, Healthy Food Kids' Club

SPRING FIDDLEHEADS AND SKUNK CABBAGE: HAPPY FEET, HEALTHY FOOD KIDS' CLUB
Week 5, Story by Carol Goodrow, Photos Mary Anne Williams

Nature Trail

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Discovering a nature trail is a lot of fun for kids and adults alike.

THE TRAIL
Behind our school is a 5/8 mile nature trail, built by a local Boy Scout troop. It twists and turns in the woods. It's just rugged enough to challenge the children, but safe and short enough to be used at each club session throughout the year. We'll tack it on to our regular club activities and use it to watch the seasons change.

RED
It's marked with red dots. We quickly learned that if tree has one dot, it means to go straight ahead. If there are two dots, the top one indicates the direction we must turn.

BE A CAREFUL EXPLORER
Our first day on the trail, we headed in the wrong direction. We quickly turned back (after not seeing any red dots for a short while). We then found a tree which had been downed by lightning. This was a "2 dot" tree which told us to turn left.

WHAT'S ON OUR TRAIL
The trail has 8 markers and a pamphlet with information about the surroundings. The children learned about and observed New England stone walls, skunk cabbage, fiddleheads, trees, and pond life. There are a couple of wooden bridges, a small wooden plank and a bit of rocky terrain to cross.
journal

We use the trail at running club, but my second grade class also visits the trail on Fridays. After we run and walk, we journal. Here is an excerpt from Vernon's journal:

I went outside and we heard the peepers. I saw skunk cabbage and there were 1,000 bugs. I had fun in the nature walk. I saw ferns. We walked on a plank. Travis picked up skunk cabbage. We ran up the hill. It was fun.

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At club we sometimes write longer journal entries, but we always write in our Happy Feet, Healthy Food journals to keep track of our fitness and healthy eating habits.

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Healthy eating is another important part of our Happy Feet, Healthy Food Kids' Club. This year, apples are the most popular snack. More fresh apples are brought to club than any other fruit. The children have learned that the closer the fruit looks to the natural form, the healthier it is - so more fresh apples than apple juice or apple sauce.

Club is always a lot of fun. We are planning our end of the season fun run. This year it will be called the Chipmunk Chase. It will be a simple 1-K family run. More on that soon.

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