Co-op: Owls!

 Last year, I didn't write any blog posts for co-op days, because that would have been too overwhelming, but we've had some really cool lessons this year, so I figured I'd include some. One of the other moms in our group, Ms. Danielle, taught a lesson on owls, since some of the kids had some questions about owls. We played several games that helped us understand the different adaptations owls have that allow them to hunt and survive. There were also several stations with owl related activities. Below is a nest that Pumpkin created with natural materials at one of the stations.

And of course, we needed an owl themed snack!

One of my personal favorite activities was the owl/bear/mouse activity. We played a game where Ms. Danielle reacted to different scenarios, and the kids had to guess whether she was using her owl voice, bear voice, or mouse voice. This was an excellent way to help the kids understand the difference between using an assertive voice, aggressive voice, or passive voice when they are frustrated or need to make their needs known. We've used this illustration at home several times since this lesson.

Unfortunately, the owl pellets we ordered did not arrive in time for this lesson, so we dissected them on a different week. But we enjoyed it nonetheless. For those unfamiliar, owl pellets are basically owl vomit. Since owls eat their prey whole, they regurgitate pellets of everything they are unable to digest (bones, fur, etc). But don't worry, these were professionally sterilized! The girls each dissected their own pellet, and were able to identify different animal bones using the included pamphlet.