Bob Jones Nature Center and Preserve

We had another Environmental outing this morning at the Bob Jones Nature Center and Preserve in Southlake. Our host was Patty Griffin, a Montessori certified teacher who loves teaching children about the environment. We were supposed to go on a short nature walk but it has been so rainy that the mud prevented our walk. But there was still lots of fun and learning to be had.

We started by spending time with some of the interesting creatures that live inside the nature center. We got to see and touch turtles, a bearded dragon, toad, even a snake! Rachel's favorite was the water turtle. She followed it with her finger along the side of the aquarium as it swam back and forth in front of her.



She also liked the empty turtle shells but mostly because they made a neat sound when she banged them on the shelf! I had to keep her distracted so she wouldn't destroy the poor little turtle shells.





We walked out to the butterfly garden and enjoyed looking at some flowers.



We even got to see a Monarch butterfly caterpillar on a leaf!



We had story time and learned about acorns and oak trees. Then Ms. Griffin showed us a neat way to store "treasures" that we might find on a nature walk. Use twine or yarn to wrap around some sticks. Slide your treasures between the twine and the tension on the twine should hold leaves and sticks in place. It makes a neat display and keepsake from a nature walk.



We finished up by making a craft, our own suncatcher made from pressed leaves and flowers. Even though it was wet and cold outside, we stayed warm and dry while having a great time learning about God's wonderful creations.