September 2023 Kids’ Corner
from the Gale River Cooperative Preschool
As September begins many of us perceive it as a time of changing leaves, shorter days, and the slow slide towards winter. The animals too are aware of these changes and their behavior reflects their growing need for food as a time of scarcity approaches. Luckily, September is also the time of year many plants are fruiting.
The fruit of woody plants is called mast and there are two categories, hard and soft. Hard includes nuts like acorns and beech nuts while soft is berries. The level of mast production can change a lot year to year, especially for the hard mast. Some years there are bumper crops and other years there are slim pickings. The amount of mast available in the fall directly impacts the number of animals we see in the spring. More mast, more animals survive the winter and have babies. Warm temperatures in the spring followed by cooler summer temperatures tend to produce the best mast years. Interestingly, this is the pattern we’ve seen this year and I’ve already noticed beech nuts littering the ground.
Of the varieties of mast, acorns are one of the most valuable to wildlife. Acorns have lots of protein, carbohydrates, fats, and minerals. They make up 25% - 50% of the fall diets of black bears, white tailed deer, squirrels, turkeys, and racoons. When out exploring, you can discover who has been munching on acorns based on the patterns they leave behind. Deer prefer to eat acorns and will leave clear spots on the ground where they’ve moved leaves to search. They also crunch acorns in their teeth leaving crushed shells behind for us to find. Deep holes in the acorn’s shell however show us that a bird has been drilling with its beak. Chipmunks and squirrels will peel the outer shell off the acorn to get at the center and will leave “middens” or piles of discarded shells after they eat. Use your detective skills to figure out who has been eating mast in your neighborhood!
Want tips on how to explore masts this September?
As hard mast seems to be abundant this fall it will be easy to incorporate a mast hunt into your walks and hikes this month. You could search for as many different kinds of mast as you can, match them to the tree or plant they came from and determine what, if anything, ate them! Making a little bingo card or check list would be a fun way to keep track. You could also draw each one and use your senses to compare their similarities and differences.
Many seeds have ways of hitchhiking rides. Find a fuzzy pair of socks you don’t mind getting dirty and put them around your children’s shoes. Have them walk in the forest scuffing their feet as they go. What seeds and nuts stuck to their feet?
Interested in mast activities and crafts? We’ve got you covered!
One fun way to play with the mast you’ve collected is making patterns. Patterns are a key element of early numeracy with preschool aged children and is especially fun with new materials! Introduce patterns as having a “rule” that must repeat. Start with an ABAB pattern for simplicity and work your way to harder patterns as they get the hang of it.
Use your mast for an art project. Hot glue guns are an especially exciting tool for children to use. Always introduce safety and proper use of tools before letting children use them and supervise their work. Glue guns provide a fun medium for making 3D sculptures out of nature materials. You can create towers of acorns, beechnut cities and hickory nut castles!
Photo link: https://fineartamerica.com/featured/beech-nuts-colin-varndell.html
Thanks to our partner, the Gale River Cooperative Preschool in Bethlehem, for helping our area parents get kiddos outside for fun no matter the time of year.
