Wildsight’s Winter Wonder program invites students to explore the ecology, environment and educational experiences found in nature just steps from the classroom door. Students learn basic ecological principles that launch their journey to a lifetime of learning and love for our wild backyards.
This school year, Wildsight educators brought the magic of winter to life for 1,671 students in 93 classrooms across the Columbia Basin, including students at Kimberley Independent School. With three fun-filled programs for Kindergarten, Grade 1, and Grade 1/2 students, we explored the amazing adaptations that help animals survive in the harsh cold — from tiny creatures like mice and chickadees, to the mighty beaver and mountain caribou.
The kids embraced the learning through games, songs, activities, and hands-on exploration. Each group studied the superpowers of different animals, from how chickadees can hide and retrieve more than 80,000 seeds to sustain themselves through winter, to how beavers build their iconic lodges. We even created mock beaver lodges in the snow — nothing like hands-on learning to make science come alive!
The students also explored the remarkable adaptations that help tiny creatures like mice survive winter’s harsh conditions. The lesson on animal tracks and scat sparked the students’ curiosity as they learned to identify clues left behind by animals in the snow. And what better way to understand how animals use snow for warmth than to build houses for their own little jello mice? The kids got creative, using snow as insulation and designing cozy homes for their mice, just like how animals use burrows or shelters to stay warm.
Students tuned in to their inner wild. By pretending to be chickadees hiding seeds and playing predator/prey games, they experienced the challenges that animals face each day in a fun and engaging way. We learned that survival in the wild isn’t just about being strong — it’s about being smart, creative, and adaptable.
To give the students an even deeper understanding of how animals survive winter, we introduced them to pelts and skulls of different animals. These tactile tools helped bring the concepts to life, allowing the children to see and touch the real-world adaptations animals have developed over centuries. They learned how the thick fur of a beaver and the large hooves of the mountain caribou help these animals survive in the winter. They loved feeling the fur of a short-tailed weasel and observing how their fur changes from brown to white in the winter to help them camouflage — a true snow-adapted animal, or chionophile.
By the end of the day, each group had experienced a wide range of activities that deepened their connection to the natural world around them. Whether they were building shelters for their jello mice or learning about the incredible journeys of winter wildlife, they walked away with a new appreciation for the resilience of nature.
When KIS Kindergarten teacher Ms. Desiree asked what the students loved the most about the program, she replied: “The puppet show hands down. They also loved hunting for tracks and the big sheet with the animal tracks. Oh, and when their classmate Sam dressed up as a chickadee.”
Finding the stories of the wild
