Hey Kids, I hope you all had some time during this Thanksgiving break to get outside and explore a park with your friends and family! This holiday, we can be thankful that there are always places to get out and explore. In the sand, snow, or sun, our parks always offer something fun! It is also a great way to recover from all that holiday pie!
Wooliest Regards, Buddy Bison
Hunting for magnetite at Mojave National Preserve
Climbing at Joshua Tree
Mojave Happenings with Our New Buddy Bison Schools
At Mojave National Preserve, students explored the Kelso Dunes, which are some of the tallest sand dunes in North America. Imagine mountains of sand at the beach, but without the water! Some students dragged magnets through the huge dunes in search for magnetic sand called magnetite while others hiked the Teutonia Peak Trail.
At Joshua Tree National Park, the kids visited White Tank which is home to many stone landscapes. They hiked through rocky trails and learned how the boulders were created by thousands of years of wind and rain! Fun fact: Despite having little rain, the Mojave Desert parks are filled with over 750 species of plants! A big thank you to Rangers Lorna and Caryn for guiding the students and First Solar for sponsoring these three new Buddy Bison schools.
Two weeks ago on October 25th, Mrs. Hill’s third grade class canoed on the Anacostia River...In my canoe, I saw one chickadee, one hawk, two cardinals (one male and one female), and many other birds. All of the canoes stopped at the entrance of Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens…On the way there, we saw a beaver named Dillon looking at us, then on the way back, he was sleeping. We came back and took our life jackets off, put them away with our paddles and left quickly. We had a great time canoeing and learned and saw a lot!
A bison-sized thank you to Jonas for his great reporting and a huge thanks to Wilderness Inquiry, the National Park Service, the Army Corps of Engineers, and the U.S. Forest Service!
Turtles come to visit Neval Thomas
Neval Thomas Principal, Ruth Barnes and Sky, her new feathered friend
Turtles, Owls, and Hawks, Oh My…at Neval Thomas Elementary School
This month was the kick-off event for DC's Neval Thomas Elementary as they joined our Buddy Bison school program! The kids saw some amazing wildlife living right in their own backyards.
My friends Daryl and Kellie from the Earth Conservation Corps taught the kids about animal habitats and the importance of watersheds like the Anacostia River.
They got to see turtles, an owl, and even a red-tailed hawk! Afterwards, we all danced to the hit nature song, Humps, Hooves, and Horns. Thank you to Pepco Holdings, Inc. for sponsoring the Buddy Bison program at Neval Thomas.
Pepco's Debbi Jarvis welcomes the kids
Our new junior rangers
Un-“Locking” the History of Canals with St. Andrews
The kindergarten and pre-K students of St. Andrews Episcopal School in Potomac, MD had a great chance to learn about the history of the C&O Canal National Historical Park, thanks to a special visit from my friend, Ranger Kelly. She came to the students’ classroom to teach them about canals, which are man-made rivers built to get boats around waterways that are too dangerous to sail on. The kids even got to dress up as boat captains and canal workers from the 1800s! Finally, the kids were sworn in as official junior rangers! Fun fact: the C&O Canal stretches 184.5 miles from Washington, DC to Maryland. The canal’s bike trail is longer than 736 Empire State Buildings in a row! Talk about a bike ride!
Songs for Junior Rangers
Rockin’ Out for Our Parks!
Even if you’re not exploring a park, you can still sing about it. My musical friend and Buddy Bison Ambassador, Ranger Jeff Wolin from Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument in Colorado has a brand new CD that brings our national parks to you through music! The CD is packed with 20 songs about our parks. With songs like my favorite, Humps, Hooves, and Horns, everyone can tap their hooves to the music! Be sure to look for the CD next time you visit a national park or order the CD online here!
Quince at Hurricane Ridge, Olympic National Park
Meet November’s Adventurer of the Month!
Kids of all ages can have awesome adventures in our parks. Congratulations to our youngest Adventurer of the Month, Quince from the state of Washington! From the picture, you can tell that he already loves the great outdoors! Quince and his mom, Amanda took this great photo at Olympic National Park (WA). Amanda stated, “Quince loved running along the paths which are great viewing points of the Strait of Juan de Fuca and Vancouver Island. At one point he abruptly stopped, started pointing at various things and babbling excitedly.”
As our newest Adventurer of the Month, Quince will receive a Buddy Bison Adventure package and an official Buddy Bison certificate. For all my other readers, keep sending me your best photos and you may be selected as our next Adventurer of the Month! And be sure to check out Amanda's blog on all of Quince's adventures!
Save the Date: National Kids to Parks Day is Saturday, May 18, 2013!
Buddy Bison tells kids to "Explore outdoors, the parks are yours!" Kids (and adults) love taking Buddy with them to parks and snapping a few photos. When you buy Buddy Bison you help send a kid to a park through our Kids to Parks National Scholarship Fund!
