Animal tracks and signs

Animals are not easy to spot, but they often leave tracks and signs behind. Their identification is a good start to discovering who is living in the area and to track what they have been doing.

Indoor CLASSES:

We will learn to identify signs using live samples (animal constructions, bones, feathers, leftover meals) and tracks using pictures (e.g. how many toes an animal has, how the bottom surface of a foot looks like, the claws, etc). We examine and measure the footprints of different animals living in the forest and city parks, and we create fantastic stories with footprints made in the sand and on paper using real-size stamps, paints, and clay. The class will provide together with live samples also pictures of various kinds of animal tracks and signs and present puzzles to analyze pictures.

Outdoor nature walks:

There will be a nature walk involving a scavenger hunt of wildlife tracks and signs in the park/garden/forest. It will be an exciting search for animal clues left behind, that will tell us where they have been and what they have been doing. The outdoor classes provide spotting sheets, magnifying glasses, binoculars, a flashlight, a ruler or measuring tape, a field guide, and a nature journal.

What do children learn:

The children will learn to search and identify animal tracks in the grass, mud, sand, and snow, on tree barks and leaves, and how similar some tracks are to others and their patterns. They will learn signs left by the animals, such as fur, feathers, nests, skulls and bones, eggshells, scats, droppings, trails, chew marks, leftover meals, burrows, constructions, and all possible other signs. Moreover, they will learn how to make and keep a nature journal.