Animal tracks in snow

[science_spot]

One very easy, free science acitvity you can share with your kids is looking for animal tracks.  Fresh snow makes this an easy activity, but if you don't have snow, muddy terrain works well too.  In the summer we find deer tracks in the dried-up ditches where they drink until the water is gone.  In the winter, we find everything from tiny little bird tracks, to deer and fox tracks.

Yesterday Abby and I took a nice long walk through our yard and into the woodland nearby.  Since the snow was a few days old, many of the tracks were unidentifiable, but we still had a great learning experience.  We also had some time away from her little sister, Sarah, which was good for both of us.

We found alot of tracks!  Abby's favorite was the squirrel tracks, because they lead right up the trees (see picture below).  We talked about how the squirrels love to live in the oak trees because they are away from the houses, they are full of acorns, and they happen to be really close to grandpa's bird feeders.  We even found a squirrel nest up there, which is the first one I have seen in those trees since I was little.  I suppose the birdfeeder was enough incentive for that squirrel to move in nearby. 

 

We talked about what the animals were doing walking around in the snow.  The deer lead right to the corn feeder, along the woodline, and to the neighbor's apple trees where there are still some apples hanging on.  We followed the bunny trail under the trailer, out the other side, under her swingset, around in circles and into the woods.  I think I opened her eyes to the many animals roaming our yard in the night, as well as how to determine what animal it was based on the footprints and where they lead (like up trees). 

We also looked at brown wildflowers leftover from the summer.  She challenged me to identify them, which I could not.... I think the highlight of our walk was ripping apart the cat-tails we found, spreading seeds into the snow.  If you want to see more tracks, check out out my blog about science at my house: It's not Just the Science.

 

Tonya

The Science Spot (for moms)

It's not Just the Science (a blog about science at my house)