NatureKids – September 2025

The start of the school year also meant a return to the NatureKids. Welcome to our new groups and welcome back to those returning for another season. We hope you have a wonderful year filled with nature learning and adventures. 

This month, we explored the world of salamanders! These amazing amphibians might be small, but they play a big role in nature. By eating insects and other invertebrates, they help keep ecosystems balanced, and their presence can tell us a lot about the health of the environment around us.

Our theme this month was inspired by our newly released Salamander Guide which you can find on our website here www.naturenb.ca/publications/guides/

This month’s activities invited groups to learn more about salamanders by reading through the guide, playing a true and false game, and using the Salamander Cards (see below) to familiarize with New Brunswick’s seven salamander species. Groups were also encouraged to go on a search for salamanders in their schoolyards and local trails, while being mindful of their habitat and sensitive skin. 

Time to get crafty! We challenged participants to create salamanders out of natural materials like twigs, rocks, leaves, and whatever else they can find. The start of the year is a great opportunity to get started or add an entry to a nature journal and further engage with the learning experience. To learn more about Nature Journaling, check out https://johnmuirlaws.com/nature-journaling-starting-growing/

Here are some updates from our groups: 

The groups with the Little Munchkins Preschool Center had a lot of fun with September’s activities. Each group got creative and used extra materials such as clay, paper, googly eyes, and paint to craft salamanders. The Little Cubs Afterschool group enjoyed trying to craft salamanders out of clay by using the salamander pictures as a guide. The Munchkins Clubhouse kids loved learning about salamanders and went on a hunt to see if they could discover any! The team at Little Munchkins Afterschool were thrilled to search for salamanders as well at a nearby stream. 

The Cub Club kids had a blast playing the true and false game together. They made their own salamanders out of cutouts, some choosing to use paint while others enjoyed gluing natural materials onto theirs to make them unique. Some of the kids even tried making themselves into a salamander shape. While they searched high and low for real salamanders, leaving no rock or log unturned, they were unsuccessful in finding any. Concluding that the hot, sunny, and dry weather were keeping them hidden, the group hopes that some rainy weather will encourage an elusive special guest to make an appearance! 

Looking under logs, leaves, and rocks, the 1st Hanwell Spark & Embers had a successful salamander search, finding 5 salamanders and 1 frog on their trek through Hanwell Nature Park. Using the identification tools provided, they were able to identify them as four-toed salamanders, a red-spotted newt and a spotted salamander. Not only did they learn how to find and identify these animals, but they pondered why salamanders live where they do, and their role as nature explorers and protectors. 

Thanks to our groups for updates and photos of your adventures. We hope our readers are inspired to get outside and explore too using the resources below. 

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