Maple Sugaring with the Audubon Preschool

It’s a cold day in early March. A group of Audubon K4 students are standing on the edge of the ravine, watching Maple Sugar Farmer Patti drill into the sapwood layer of their adopted maple tree. “Tap, tap, tap the sap” she sings, as each child takes a turn using the old-fashioned hand drill. They watch closely as Patti hammers in the spile. Then they wait, and watch, for something to happen. Nothing does. One child, in frustration, hits the tree to make the sap come out. “Oh, dear,” Patti says. “Hitting the tree won’t make it work.” In response, several children embrace the tree, trying to warm it up. Moments later the first drops appear.

We visit our maple trees at least three times a week, collecting the sap and bringing it back to the building. We chart how much we gather, recording the temperature every day. We build a maple sugar camp in our classroom and turn our sensory table into a make-shift evaporator. At last, the day comes when we build a campfire and boil our sap. The smell of smoke, the warmth of the fire, and the taste of melted marshmallow is a sensory experience that few forget.

There is no doubt that the children are learning much about the process of maple sugaring. They take the facts they are learning outside and reinterpret them through free play inside, and it’s always exciting to see such integrated learning in action. But there is more to the story. Long after the season has ended, they remember how it felt to taste those first drops as they come out of the tree. They remember getting to know their own tree, checking on its progress, and the excitement of seeing those blue plastic bags finally overflowing with sap. And although they might not know it, they have taken new steps down the road of future land stewardship. Care for the tree, they discover, and it will give back. Not just sap, but memories.

Interested in learning more about our maple sugar program? Want to taste the sweet syrup for yourself? Join us for our 8th Annual Pancake Breakfast on Saturday, March 31! Enjoy pure maple syrup on your pancakes, tour the Sugar Shack, and view a preschool maple sugaring slideshow. Register for one of three seating times at SANC's main desk or call 414-352-2880 ext. 0. Tickets may also be purchased at the door, based on availability, for $1 more per ticket. Pre-registration is strongly encouraged. All proceeds benefit the Nature Preschool.

FEE: M: Child (ages 3-12) $6, Adult $10; NM: Child $8, Adult $12. Children 2 and under are free.
LEVEL: Families