Finding Fun Surprises in Nature

It has been a fun day so far. We met up with several families from our homeschool group this morning at a local park and the kids played for hours. The weather here is very hot so we try to do outdoor activities in the mornings during the summer. It was so nice to visit with the other moms like the kids played because we have all been so unorganized due to summer break that this was the first park day we have had since the end of May.

When we arrived home, after we had lunch, T decided he was just going to go back outside to play some more. B has nap time in the early afternoon so I try to have T play outside or in his room during those hours. He was in the mood for being outdoors even after spending the entire morning out there. About ten minutes into his outdoor play time he came running in all excited. He had found a very special surprise in our front yard under a tree. An owl pellet! He was so excited! His Dad went out with him to check it out before letting him touch it and it did indeed appear to be an owl pellet. If you are wondering what an owl pellet is, please check out my past post entititled "What's and Owl Pellet?"  Of course, T grabbed his owl pellet, magnifying glass and rodent bone diagram and headed to the back porch to dissect it.

After digging through the pellet he determined that the animal eaten by the owl was most likely a mouse. These bones were quite a bit smaller than the bones in the other pellets he has dissected in the past. 

This is the first time we have ever found an owl pellet so if you would like to give it a try, you might consider purchasing one. Another benefit of purchasing a pellet is that they are usually heated to a very high temperature to help kill any bacteria that might be growing on them. I have given some ideas of where to purchase an owl pellet in my other owl pellet post. 

It is just so wonderful when nature provides a learning opportunity that get the child excited to learn. Here we are in the middle of summer break, he really needed some science fun.