Spring’s Awakening

As March approaches and the temperatures begin to steadily increase above freezing, each facet of the natural world begins, once again, to come back to life in their own ways. Among them, the song birds commence their morning serenade, snow drops bloom, trees bud and American toads make their way to the surface of the earth.

For those who take the time to enjoy spring’s awakening, it is glorious. You don’t need a country landscape to appreciate the new beginnings of spring; you just need to step outside your front door. Even in the densest urban neighborhoods, nature exists- a greening patch of grass, song birds on a wire, a budding street tree or kids returning to the playground.

In Philadelphia, nature revitalizes each neighborhood, park, forest, arboretum and farm. Yes, you read that right, all within the boundaries of the city. It is inspiring the way nature brings a city alive with color, music, and fragrance, all intertwined with the hustle and bustle of its everyday.   However, there are incidents the city’s need to get to its destination as quick as possible will interfere with nature’s need to get to its destination as quick as possible. Unfortunately, nature cannot slow down and take a detour, but we can.

Take that emerging American toad for example. Just as the Monarch butterflies instinctively make their way back to Philadelphia from as far away as Mexico, the American toad can travel for months to a suitable water source where they can mate.

Although this migration happens anywhere you find a toad, in Northwest Philly, there is a mass migration that happens every spring for the toads, and again six weeks later for their toadlets, between the Roxborough Reservoir and the Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education. But like many greenspaces in the city, it is segmented, and the toads must cross busy side streets to get to their destination. This challenge often turns the toads’ mass migration into a mass killing of toads.

Luckily for the toads, there is a group of toad-loving people at the Schuylkill Center who also emerge in the spring to spend their evenings from March through June, ensuring the toads and toadlets are able to safely cross the road. This is known as the Toad Detour. These volunteers patrol for the first signs of migration, which often occurs on the first warm, rainy evening. When the toad begin crossing, they set up road blocks, catch toads outside the blocked areas, redirect traffic, and educate neighbors on the importance of toads in their neighborhood.

Sounds crazy right? Well, I often think of the toads and those volunteers in the spring and summer when gardening or front porch sitting.   

While humans may negatively impact the life and habitat of the toad, toads are nothing but beneficial to humans. For gardeners and farmers, toads are a natural pest control. They eat what eats our gardens and crops, keeping insect and invertebrate pests under control, including those mosquitoes that invade our evenings outside.  

That being said, the more toads saved, the more there are a benefit to us.

So, saving the toads isn’t as crazy as it may seem.

Joining a Toad Walk or volunteering for the Toad Detour is a unique experience. To watch and help hundreds of toads (and thousands of toadlets) cross the road and continue to negotiate barriers that separate them from the reservoir’s safe waters, is inspiring. And if you can’t imagine what hundreds of toads looks like, I invite you to stop by and witness it for yourself.  It is also really quite peaceful to visit the reservoir during the mating time and listen to the trill of the toads as the sun sets. You can even see Center City from one special spot through the trees.

Nature never ceases to amaze me. Every day, provided I slow down and take a second to look around, I witness some natural wonder, even in the dead of winter. But spring’s awakening is special in and of itself as life returns to every facet of the natural world.   

For you readers who are not in the Philadelphia area, I would love to hear your favorite signs of spring or if there are any groups or events similar to the Toad Detour that support the wildlife in your area. 

 

 



Toadlets Everywhere!

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Spring: So Close, Yet So Far Away

Plant Part Costume Tutorial

Every other week, my amazing Head Start students in Germantown come to the Wyck Historic House and Garden to learn about plants, insects, animals, farming, healthy food, etc. This week they continued learning about plant parts and the healthy foods they produce.

We used the art in Eating the Alphabet by Lois Ehlert to illustrate what plants we eat and discussed which parts of the plant they were from. Then we observed plants and signs of spring, played a matching game, sang our plant part rhyme, danced as a fruit bowl and even dressed up like a plant.

The plant part costume was something the kids loved when learning about plants at The Schuylkill Center’s Farm Camp, so with some felt and a few dollar store items, I had a costume of my own in no time at all.

Plant Part Costume

Materials:

¥   1 Sheet Brown Felt

¥   1 Yards Green Felt or Fabric

¥   Pipe Cleaners

¥   Fabric Garden Gloves

¥   Small Garden Hat or Basket

¥   Decorative Flowers or Fruit

¥   Hot Glue Gun

¥   Needle & Thread or Fabric Glue

¥   Velcro

Instructions

Roots:

1.     Cut two 2-inch wide strips of brown or green felt.

2.     Cut small slits in the middle of the strips about a ¼ inch apart for as many pipe cleaners (roots) you wish to use. I used six.

3.     Insert pipe cleaners, twisting top of cleaner around felt to secure it.   

4.     Add Velcro to ends of strips.

Stem:

1.     Using an apron as a pattern

2.     Cut an apron shape from the yard of green felt or fabric

3.     Sew on ties or cut with pattern

Leaves:

  1.     Lay gloves on top of the green felt or fabric.

  2.     Cut two leaf shapes from felt or fabric large enough to hide the gloves

  3.     Fabric glue or hand-stitch the bottom of the leaf to the bottoms of the gloves

  4.     Use puffy paint, markers, or other paint to create veins on leaves

Flowers/Fruit:

  1.     Pull the flowers and leaves off of a bouquet of decorative flowers

  2.     Hot glue the flowers and leaves to a small hat or basket

Suggestions & Additions:

Costume Additions

One Whole Flower- Create one flower using colored cotton balls or puff balls and felt petals (color and shape of choice)

Add Literacy Labels- Velcro, sew or permanent marker labels to each part of the costume

Add Fruit- Create one flower using colored cotton balls or puff balls and felt petals to create an apple blossom and add a faux apple (or any common fruit and flower)

Books

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carl

This book is a classic that the kids know and it can be used to discuss healthy foods v. junk foods.

Eating the Alphabet by Lois Ehlert

This book has bright and beautiful illustrations of a wide variety of fruits and vegetables.  

Spring: So Close, Yet So Far Away

It's March. The sun is beginning to shine brighter, the temperature a bit warmer and plants a bit greener. Winter hibernation is turning into spring fever. There are so many things we want to do outside, but we can't just yet. So what can we do? While I was brainstorming this same question for my Wyck House lesson plans, I came across a Facebook post by Nature Rocks. They shared a link, "10 Ways to Explore Nature in March" by Go Explore Nature. This awesome article shares wonderful ways families and teachers can get their kids out of the house or classroom and into nature. It even has printables! Don't have kids to take outside? Numbers 4, 7 and 9 can be done by adults.

Number 8, “See local wildflowers,” is one of my favorites that everyone can do. I especially love that there are so many places to do this in the Philly area. My favorites are Wissahickon Park, Wissahickon Environmental Center, the Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education, Awbury Arboretum, and the Wyck Historic House, Garden and Farm. And thats only the Northwest section of the city! What are your Philly area favorites? What are your favorites from where you live? What do you love to do outside in March? I hope thinking about these questions and reading this article has you inspired to get outside and play. Even on a rainy day, the physical and mental benefits to outdoor play for children and grown-ups are immeasurable.

Now that you have a pre-spring to do list, get outside and love the nature around you. Nature is as close as your door step, no matter where you are from. Enjoy!