On a spring day that felt much more like summer, I thought a good way to beat the heat might be to do a spring scavenger hunt with the PreK class. I had originally planned a spring nature walk but with temps nearing 85, I wanted a reason to come inside to cool off and regroup. Once I whipped out the clipboards, the fun really began! I could not believe how excited they were for this “big kid work”! One student eagerly remarked “Is this like homework?” and another begged “Can we take these home?” We reviewed the items on the hunt together and then took off to the likely spots such as the garden and the woods. We found grass and flowers, observed clouds and even felt the wind to check items off our lists. Fueled by their positivity, we took our search even further and went down “beyond the fence” towards the Brook. We were searching for mud, no easy feat when it has not rained in days. We even got a bit creative, when our hunt yielded no animal tracks, we used the footprints in the sandbox as proof of human activity. I was so impressed with the students reading and tracking skills during this lesson. In fact, we were so enthusiastic that we spent our whole recess time continuing this pursuit, which was for the best because after all that walking it was definitely time for snack!