The Nature Ambassador visits the Wyoming Head Start classrooms twice a month, taking the children out for nature walks through the downtown neighborhoods and playing games in the school yard. This week I guided the children to not only look at nature, but also to touch and listen to the natural world. I created a simple word and picture scavenger hunt so the children could easily search for the labeled items outside. We looked for ravens ("Cuervos") flying by, touched pinecones, and listened for songbirds. 

We walked to the Visitor Center on North Cache in downtown Jackson to check out the exhibits, and look at the geese that inhabit the grounds. The kids especially loved watching the geese who nest on the sod roof of the visitor center.  

When the weather didn't cooperate for outdoor activities during the winter months, we brought nature inside! For Valentine's Day we decorated pink raven silhouettes with the young Early Head Start students. I brought the Beaver Box from the Bridger-Teton National Forest into the classroom so students could feel a beaver pelt, and dress up like a beaver! We also got to touch a raven wing, thanks to the biologists from Beringia South.