Dear Forest families,

We had a terrific week learning about bats and enjoying our beautiful fall weather. With the help of last week’s snow, most of our leaves are down on our playground. The children had fun raking leaf piles, hauling them in a wheelbarrow and throwing them like confetti!

Thank you for bringing in winter gear. Your child will need: snow pants, warm hat, waterproof gloves and winter boots – along with indoor shoes. Please be sure to label all gear and check your child’s cubby for extra items to take home like jackets or shoes. We appreciate your help in keeping your child’s cubby organized!  🙂 

This week’s focus – Bats

We learned:

• Bats are mammals
• The smallest bat has a body that is about 1 inch long and the largest bat has wings that span 6 feet.
• There are over 1,000 species of bats
• They can be found in everywhere except for the polar regions and extreme deserts.
• They are a long-living mammal, and some bats can live to be thirty years old.
• Bats live in caves, buildings, trees and the crevices of rocks.
• They fly at night and use echolocation to find food. Bats send out sounds that bounce off objects and back to them and can tell the size of the object and how far away it’s located.
• A baby bat is called a pup
• Bats are extremely important to the ecosystem – 70% of all bats eat millions of insects each night.
• Bats feed on fruit, nectar, fish, small birds, lizards, frogs and other bats. There are even two species of vampire bats. They live in South America and feed on blood.
• The greatest threat to bats are people. Many people fear bats and try to destroy them but since bats play a huge role in keeping the insect population under control, it is very important they are protected.

A peek into next week– Spiders!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Ms. Melissa, Ms. Kristin, Mr. Jay