Read "Owl" About It

The Three Rivers Park District here in the Twin Cities of MN has a program called My Preschooler and Me: Book Worms Story Hour. Today's story hour was all about owls. Since I'm such a big fan of the birds, Mom paid the $4 per person to participate in the event and signed me up. It was held in a pavilion at Fish Lake Regional Park. Mom was thankful that the pavilion was an indoor space, as it was quite windy and sleeting the entire time we were there.

When Mom and I first arrived, we took some time to look at a few stuffed owls. I was incredibly excited about them!

Then, I got to feel the feathers from an owl wing. They were very soft.

I also investigated the feet and claws of a few different owls. 

After a few minutes of exploring, we sat down to listen to the story, Owl Babies by Martin Waddell. It's a book I like a lot. Little owl finger puppets were used to help tell the story. I have some at home just like them and I call them my owl babies, too. 

After the story, a real, live owl came out to greet us! 

I could not have been more thrilled!

This owl used to be wild, but he was only born with one eye, so he had a really hard time hunting. He was found nearly starving to death, but he has a good home now at the Eastman Nature Center in Elm Creek Park (another park close to Fish Lake and part of the Three Rivers Park system). 

After meeting the live owl, Mom helped me make an owl puppet. I colored in the owl's face, then we glued it to a paper bag in a way so that it looked like it was opening and closing its mouth. Then, we taped a piece of yarn with a cotton ball attached in the owl's "mouth" so it could "throw up" an owl pellet. Mom thought that it was pretty funny to have that included in the craft project.

Before leaving, I said goodbye to the owl one more time. I don't think he was too happy with Mom taking his picture once again.