WILD Wednesday: Beavers!

This past weekend we headed back to Dingman Creek Conservatory to explore in the snow. We came across this familiar spot that we have passed many times but today my daughter decided to become the beaver that had worked so hard on this log. She pretended to chop it down with her big beaver teeth. Afterwards, she was wondering why the beaver had chopped this tree down but not taken the log for his home. She walked around the area thinking about it. She decided that maybe the log turned out to be too big or maybe some humans came along the trail spooking the beaver away.

Do your kids like to play pretend? When children play pretend they are growing their cognition, specifically their representation. This symbolic play is great for their imagination and expression! As Indy was hypothesizing reasons why the beaver had left the log behind she was growing her observing and questioning skills. We have walked past this same spot many times on the trail but today was a whole new learning experience for her. You never know what wonderful ways children will learn and grow when we get them outside to connect with nature.

Written by Abby Dique, Fanshawe ECE Student