Bees in the Bog

What an adventurous day we had at the Richmind Nature Park earlier this week! The children were engaged from the second they stepped off the bus until the minute they got back on. It was full day of exploration and learning in the great outdoors - my favourite classroom!

After a quick snack we were off to navigate our way through the self guided nature trail. We learned a little about the bog habitat and how it supports the living things inhabiting it. We saw birds, turtles, a garter snake, spit bugs, bees and other creepy crawlies!

Then we met up with Keefer who led us through the bees program which started in the nature house where the kids shared their knowledge of bees before exploring a real hive and locating the queen bee. 

We were off into the bog before long to learn about spaghnum moss, the importance of bees in our ecosystem  and to think like a bee. We warmed up with bee yoga (think life cycle), then tasted honey and blueberry fruit leather harvested from the bushes at the park last year, looked through magnifying glasses which mimicked a bee's compound eyes, visited a trail made by coyotes, played a game called 'swarm' to learn about how and why queen bees choose their hive locations and finally we caught and released some insects by shaking leaves over a cloth. Exhale. Yes, it was a busy day! Of course there was lunch and plenty of playtime to be had as well.