Duck Stamp Art Work

This week we have been working on our Duck Stamp drawings with pencil and colored pencils.
Mrs. A. has been sharing her art expertise to help the kids learn how to capture the shape of their duck, goose, or swan by using smaller shapes as the basis for the head (circle) and body (football).  Then, we work on finer details like feathers, beak features, and a eye with a life-like gleam. Another aspect we have been working on is the background of our pictures like grasses and water. Water can be especially tricky! Each attempt helps us refine our drawing work to move towards a more realistic rendition. We are looking forward to using more varied media like cray-pas, crayon wax resist,  watercolors and tempera paint!

January Town Forest Walk

Our mission on today's walk was tracking! The snow on the ground, though light, was enough to reveal who has been up and active in the Town Forest this winter. Outfitted with our track ID cards, we broke into small groups and began our search. Bushwhacking through the brush off the trail yielded our best finds! It was easier to see the tracks in areas where people usually don't walk.

We found the tracks of deer, squirrels, rabbits, coyote, dogs, skis and humans. It was interesting to think about the story behind the tracks we found. A line of deer tracks alongside a line of coyote tracks - was a coyote tracking that deer? Squirrel tracks interrupted with dig marks in the ground - was the squirrel trying to find hidden acorns from the fall? We saw signs of lots of activity in our seemingly quiet forest!

Enjoy the pictures below from our trip:

 Deer Tracks:

Rabbit track:

 Coyote tracks:

 More deer tracks:

Tractor Seat Fungus:

 Frozen Run-off - Natural Slide!