Today in Piney Ridge, Lilly, Otto, and Dougie found an injured Marbled Murlett named Missy and decided to help take her to the ocean to reunite with her family.

Parents, feel free to engage with your kiddos using some pf the prompts from below.

• Where do mushrooms like to grow?
  • In shady and moist places like forest floors or even in meadows and lawns with healthy soil
• Which type of poisonous mushroom does the shrimp russula look like?
  • Toadstool (Specifically Fly agaric)
• Which famous mushroom is modeled after a fly agaric toadstool?
  • The super mushroom from Super Mario
• Where do you think Missy lives?
  • On the ocean
• Why was Missy a long way from home?
  • She was with her family looking for a place to nest.

For an activity, let’s make spore prints! Grab a basket or container of some kind and go outside to a nearby meadow or woods and go mushroom hunting. Look for a variety of different ones. Carefully pick the mushroom by making sure the cap stays intact. Once you have found a few different ones, head back home. Once you’re home, carefully remove the stem of the mushroom from the cap and then grab different colors of construction paper. Place the cap of the mushroom down on a piece of construction paper, stem side down, and carefully cover the cap with a glass bowl and leave it alone for 12 to 24 hours. After the time has passed remove the bowl and the cap and you will see how the spores dropped from the cap and left a beautiful print on the paper. MAKE SURE TO DISCARD EVERY PIECE OF MUSHROOM AND DO NOT EAT ANY OF IT IF YOU ARE NOT 1000% WHAT KIND IT IS.

Today in Piney Ridge, Dougie became a super squirrel and helped some of the critters. Even Clover helped after receiving some help herself.

Parents, feel free to engage with your kiddos using some pf the prompts from below.

• What did Dougie pretend to be?
  • A super hero!
• What do maple tree leaves look like?
  • Big and shaped like a hand
• What do red alder leaves look like?
  • Smaller and oval shaped with serrated edges.
• What is a “blade” of grass?
  • One single piece of grass
• What is a worry stone?
  • Something like a good luck charm that you keep with you. You can play with it in your hands to help you calm down if you are feeling a little nervous
• Do you have something that keeps you calm?
  • It can be a special blanky, a stuffy/toy, or even a worry stone

For an activity, let’s become super heroes! Using a bath towel or maybe an old swaddle, tie it around your neck to make a cape. Have your “super” child help your household with tasks around the home. You can also go to your nearest park and pretend that you are someone who needs a super hero to save them.

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Today in Piney Ridge, Lilly and Bev help Otto find a new home.

Parents, feel free to engage with your kiddos using some pf the prompts from below.

• What kind of foods do Otters eat?
  • Fish, crustaceans, birds, eggs, amphibians, small mammals
• Where do river otters sleep?
  • Caves, hollow logs, abandoned burrows, abandoned dams, near a body of water
• What is freshwater?
  • In land water that isn’t salty (lakes, rivers, creeks)
• What is salt water?
  • Water that isn’t inland and is salty (The Ocean)
• What are crawfish?
  • A freshwater crustacean like shrimp and crabs that look like a mini lobster\
• Which plant smells stinky, skunk cabbage or wild ginger?
  • Skunk cabbage, it emits a strong stinky odor to attract pollinators like flies and beetles.

For this week’s activity, ask you child what makes their home feel like home. Are there any smells that make them feel at home, specific decorations they may like? Maybe any colors that make them feel comfortable, I have always liked having light colors like teal and lavender in my home.

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Today in Piney Ridge, Lilly and friends escaped the heat by having a fun day in the water!

Parents, feel free to engage with your kiddos using some pf the prompts from below.

• What do you like to do when it is really hot outside?
• What do you like to do when at a pool/lake/river?
• Why do you think Clover doesn’t like getting wet??
  • Bunnies are sensitive creatures and it takes them a long time to dry which can make them really really sick
• What is buoyancy?
  • An invisible force that pushes objects upwards inside water, helping it float
• What do you like to do after a day in the water?
• Do you like to be pushed/pulled around in the water, on a board, or even on a blanket on the floor?

For an activity, go and play Marco Polo. Usually, it is played in the water, but it can be played outside of the water too. This game will help your child learn to trust and follow their ears and sense of touch like they would trust their eyes.

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Today in Piney Ridge, the nocturnal friends decided to have a campout where they roasted food and played games!

Parents, feel free to engage with your kiddos using some pf the prompts from below.

• What do you like to do when camping/relaxing around a fire?
• What did Rico do to keep the fire from spreading?
  • He made a ring of rocks around the area where the fire was
• What are cattails?
  • A tall grass/reed with a brown furry spike at the top
• Which of the snacks the friends ate sounds the yummiest?
  • Insects, fish, nuts, popped seeds (like mini popcorn)
• How did Rico start a fire?
  • By rubbing a few sticks together until black soot/ash sparked and placed that on the fluffy cattails
• What did the friends do before they went home to sleep?
  • Put out the fire using water and dirt.
• What did the big plant say to the little plant?
  • What’s Up Bud!

For an activity, do some campfire activities! Make s’mores in the microwave and make some popcorn then gather around a light source like a candle or flashlight. Make a blanket fort and pretend it is a tent, share stories, play games. Play charades by having your kiddo pretend to be someone or something.

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Today in Piney Ridge, the diurnal friends made soccer equipment and had a few matches. Unfortunately Edgar hurt his wing and sat out and Clover mended his wing and kept him company.

Parents, feel free to engage with your kiddos using some pf the prompts from below.

• What do you do when you get bored?
  • Make a new game?
  • Go find cool things to collect?
• What does “vertical” mean and what are examples?
  • Vertical: Straight up and down
  • Trees, poles, someone standing
• What does “horizontal” mean and what are examples?
  • Horizontal: Going side to side/flat
  • Table top, the floor, someone laying down
• What does Otto eat?
  • Fish, crustaceans (crayfish and crabs), amphibians, & reptiles
• What did Clover make for Edgar?
  • A sling
• What is the sling used for?
  • To keep someone from moving their arm so it can heal

For an activity, using some household objects make some posts. Depending on your child, you can use a doorway indoors or set something up outside. Then have yourselves a little soccer game!

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Today in Piney Ridge, Lilly and Clover relaxed in the meadow and made some flower crowns.

Parents, feel free to engage with your kiddos using some pf the prompts from below.

• Do cat eat greens?
  • Yes, the fiber helps them digest their food, especially if that ate to much hair and/or bones
• What is your favorite flower?
• Can you describe what it looks like?
• What do you think Clover was feeling when the stem of a flower ripped while she was making her flower crown?
• How do you feel when you do something for the first time and it is not quit right?
• What do we do if something we make dose not turn out how we want?
  • Practice, Practice, Practice!

For an activity, let’s make a flower crown! Like described in the story, go pick some flowers from your lawn or a public park. Dandelions, daisies, and clovers will most likely be the easiest to find. When you have the flower, using your nail make a little slit one or two finger widths from the bottom of the stem. Grab the next flower and slide its stem through the slit. Then make a slit in the second stem. Repeat this process until the crown is long enough to go around your child’s head. In the finally stem, make the slit slightly bigger, just enough to pass the blossom through, to close the loop.

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Today in Piney Ridge, Lilly and friends made and flew kites. They even learned more about one of their friends.

Parents, feel free to engage with your kiddos using some pf the prompts from below.

• On what kind of trees do acorns grow?
  • Oak Tree
• What do oak tree leaves look like?
  • Long, with wavy/bumpy lobes that look like fingers
• Why was Sally in the grass?
  • To keep her body, cool and moist.
• Why does Sally need to stay cool and moist?
  • So she can breathe by absorbing oxygen from the moisture on her skin
• What is erosion?
  • When the Earth uses tools like water, air, ice, and gravity to move dirt, sand, and rocks from one place to another
• What kept the stream bank from eroding?
  • The strong roots of the Slough Sedge. (Pronounced: Slew Sej)

For an activity, let’s make quick and easy kites! Grab a plastic bag for you and your child. Preferably the lightweight plastic produce bags, but any plastic bag works. Then get some string, yarn, ribbon, anything like that, and cut a section as long as you are tall. If your bags have handles, tie the string onto that, making sure the string stays long. If the bags don’t have handles, make 2 holes about a fingers width away from the edge and the string there. Then hopefully it is a windy day so you and your child can go out and fly the kites!

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Today in Piney Ridge, Lilly and friends met up with Bev to help her build a new dam and lodge. They even met a new friend in the process.

Parents, feel free to engage with your kiddos using some pf the prompts from below.

• Where does Bev live?
  • In a beaver lodge
• What is a Beaver dam? What is a beaver lodge?
  • Dam: A wall of logs and sticks used to stop or slow down the flow of water
  • Lodge: A hollow mound of logs and sticks where beavers live
• Where is the entrance of a Beaver lodge?
  • In the bottom, under the water. This keeps the beavers safe from the weather and from predators.
• What are the two halves of a turtle shell called?
  • Carapace: The upper half of the shell
  • Plastron: The lower half of the shell
• Why do we think Tutu moves slowly on land but fast in the water?
  • The shell is heavy making it hard to move on land. In the water, everything floats so it feels lighter and that lets Tutu move much faster.

For an activity, grab two plastic bowls, one large and one small. Fill the large one with water. Fill up the smaller one little less than halfway with something heavier, like rocks, rice, or even water. Put both containers on a flat surface and have your kiddo push the smaller one. Then put the smaller bowl into the larger bowl with water and have them push the little bowl around inside of the water. Have them feel how much easier it is to push it around in the water versus on land.

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Today in Piney Ridge, Lilly meets with her new nighttime friends and play some hide and seek. The friends find out the story of the horned bird is real.

Parents, feel free to engage with your kiddos using some pf the prompts from below.

• How did the friends find each other in the dark?
  • Nocturnal creatures have good nighttime vision as well as having much better hearing and being more sensitive to movement.
• Which of the friends are predators?
  • Lilly and Tek
    • Lilly hunts small animals like mice, lizards, and small birds
    • Tek hunts the same animals as Lilly but also slightly bigger animals like Lilly, Rico, and Posie. They even hunt skunks and rabbits.
• How does Tek fly silently?
  • He has small, specialized fluffy feathers called down feathers that muffle sounds. His wings are extra big so he doesn’t have to flap as much as most birds and can even fly slower.
• Do you think the friends are good hiders?
  • There fur are the right shades to blend in with bushes, trees, and shadows. They have a natural camouflage

For an activity, right before bedtime, as it is getting darker, play a game of hide and seek without turning on lights. Have your child rely on their sense of hearing to find you. Or put on some perfume and they can use the scent to find you. Have your child put on pajamas that is a close match to your couches, pillows, or sheets and have them “blend in” like the friends. The running around and moving things around to make a hiding place would be good “big body play” that will help your child regulate their energy and emotions and get them ready for bed.

Patreon: https://patreon.com/PineyRidge

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