Nature Tots, as of 1/2/09, has officially incorporated! This is the first step on the road to becoming a non-profit, which I hope to have completed (at least the tax exemption part) in a month or two. While it will presumably take quite a while to obtain funding in order to offer these classes for free, at least the class costs will be tax deductible for participants! 

This month we will also be busy planning for our first class of the year, starting in March at Spring Lake. The session is called “What Animal Did That?” and will be held four Tuesdays in March, from March 3^rd to March 24^th, from 10:30 to 11:30 am. In this session children will learn to identify signs of animal activity and learn about the animals that made them. Various animal species will be covered, and may include insects and spiders, birds, reptiles and amphibians, and mammals. Other upcoming classes are listed on the second page of this newsletter. While all upcoming sessions are currently scheduled mid-week, please inform me if you have an interest in a weekend class. If there is enough interest I will offer one on a Saturday or Sunday as well.

Thanks, and hope to see you outdoors!

Stephanie Derammelaere

Children learn not just visually, but love to manipulate things with their hands and learn by touch. A fun project, which would be great tied to a trip to a tide pool, or even a place that has a “touch tank” like the Environmental Discovery Center, is to create your own starfish that feels like the real thing. First, cut out a simple starfish shape out of sandpaper (smaller children will need help with this step). Then let your child paint the starfish. Let dry and glue onto a piece of sturdy construction paper. The resulting starfish will feel just as rough as the real ones and will remind your child that many animals feel differently. You can compare the roughness of the sea star to the prickliness of a sea urchin, to the smooth shell of a crab. Challenge your child to think about why the animals are made this way - Does their exterior protect them? Make them blend into their surroundings? Help them catch food?

During these colder winter months, children may need lip balm to soothe those dry lips, and sometimes it seems like more lip balm lands in your child’s mouth than on top of it! Next time you need to purchase some lip balm for your child (or yourself!), try one that is plant-based instead of a traditional one which is made from petroleum, a finite resource. Eco-friendly lip balms have bases like olive oil, hemp, and beeswax. In addition, some conventional balms contain potentially toxic artificial fragrances and flavors – an especially important factor when you consider how much of the stuff kids can ingest! Some of our favorites are those made by Burt’s Bees, which can be found at Target, most drugstores, and even some grocery stores. Kids love picking out their own flavor – it makes them feel so grown up to have their own! If 10,000 people opted for an eco lip balm for their child instead of a regular one, we could keep the weight of 19 glass candy jars in petroleum-based products off our shelves!