Click Science and Discovery Magazine for Preschoolers and Young Children April 2017

San Diego, California Jade wakes up to a cool, foggy morning. Mom calls it a “May Gray” day. Low, misty clouds blanket their home by the ocean. Mom says the fog forms when cold, moist air over the water gets trapped by warmer air above. Jade runs outside. Dad is waiting in his wetsuit, holding his surfboard. A seagull screeches keow, keow. “Akaw!” Jade shouts back, which is what surfers say when they’re excited or see a good wave. Sedona, Arizona Crunch. Rowan knows why his yard is covered with red gravel. Arizona doesn’t get a lot of rain, and stones don’t need water like thirsty grass. But what he loves best is the sound the gravel makes under his feet. He spots a chipmunk snacking on seeds beneath the…

Journal date April 15 Grandma gave me this cool nature notebook for my birthday. I’m going to write about all the animals I see. This morning a robin with grass in its beak flew to a post on our front porch. Another robin sang in the maple tree. I watched through binoculars from the living room window. Last year a pair of robins raised a family on our porch. Maybe these robins will too! Journal date April 20 Yay! The robins built a nest! They worked all week, carrying twigs, grass, and mud. Mom says the robin with a black head and a dark, rusty red breast is the papa. Mama Robin’s head is gray, and her feathers are not as brightly colored. She’s harder to spot. I hope that…

If you see tracks in the mud, sand, or snow, then you know an animal passed by. But which one? Look carefully at the tracks. Can you tell how many feet the animal has? How many toes are on each foot? Do you see claw marks in front of the toes? Follow these tracks to the next page to see which animals made them. Frog My back feet have five long toes. My smaller front feet have only four. Rabbit My feet have furry bottoms that make it hard to see my toe tracks. When I hop, my big back feet land ahead of my front feet. Crow My feet have three toes that face forward and one that faces backward. Sparrow I spend most of my time in trees.…

Feed the birds. You can use a bird feeder, or make a pretty pinecone feeder. Collect clean pinecones (if they’re tightly closed, let them sit in a dry, warm spot for a few days until they open). Tie yarn or string around the top of each cone to make a hanging loop. Spread peanut butter all over the pinecone. Roll the now-sticky cone in bird seed, and hang your yummy feeder outside your window. Help them build a nest. Birds build their nests with all sorts of materials. If you give them supplies they like, they may build a nest nearby. You might not see the finished nest, but it’s fun to watch what the birds take. Stuff the bits and pieces into the scales of an open pinecone, an…

Cam ran to look out the window again. He was too excited to sit still. Aunt Deb was coming to visit for the entire month of June! Aunt Deb had traveled to jungles and deserts and swamps. She’d heard whales sing, followed herds of zebras across mighty rivers, and watched wild penguin chicks hatch. Cam loved looking at the photos she sent him and hearing about the amazing animals she’d seen. Now she was coming, and she had promised to take Cam exploring! When Aunt Deb finally arrived, Cam gave her a big hug. Then he asked, “When are we going exploring?” Aunt Deb laughed and said, “How about now?” But when they went outside, she headed straight to Cam’s backyard. Cam frowned and said, “There’s nothing interesting to see…

“Where’s Daddy going with that rake?” Jorie asked. She looked out the kitchen window into the bright sunshine. “It’s spring. The leaves aren’t falling.” Mom zipped Jorie’s little brother into his sweatshirt and helped Jorie pull her own sweatshirt over her head. “No falling leaves,” she agreed, opening the back door. “But plenty of old leaves and sticks to rake up. It’s time to get the yard ready for a new season!” For a while, Jorie and Benny helped Dad pick up sticks while Mom weeded. Picking up sticks was boring. A breeze rustled through the trees. “Look, Benny!” Jorie exclaimed. “Helicopters!” She ran from tree to tree, catching the spinning little whirligigs as they fell through the air. “’Copter!” said Benny proudly. He opened his fist to show Daddy.…