Western Slope Wonder Academy

02/16/2026

This Friday we got into the spirit of Valentine's day and made our own spin on a Valentine's day card. We started by making our very own recycled paper out of egg cartons and paper shopping bags. To make them a little extra special we sprinkled them with wildflower seeds! Next we did a little color chemistry! We made our own "dyes" out of different spices and foods! We learned about acids and bases and then observed how they affected the different colors that we created! We of course added a little extra fun and made an explosion! Then we took our colors back inside to create paint! We played with different mixtures of glue and corn starch and our dyes to make the perfect paint consistency which we then used to paint our valentines! We ended with a completely recycled compostable Valentine's gift that the receiver can plant and then watch bloom!! It was a rainy day so our views looked a little different this week, but nevertheless fun was had by all! So much mud! Thankful for my helpers!

02/12/2026

🌿 Jar Donation Request! 🫙

Western Slope Wonder Academy kiddos are getting ready for a super fun canning class where we’ll be making jelly and pickles (yes… it’s going to smell amazing 😍).

We are needing 50 small 4-ounce jars — the cute little ones!

If you have any sitting around from past projects that you’d be willing to donate, we would be SO grateful.

They don’t have to be brand new — just clean and in good shape!

Thank you for always supporting hands-on learning for these sweet kids. This community is the best. 💚

If you have some, comment below or send me a message!

02/01/2026

Yesterday, Miss Kyli and Miss Sheila had the chance to attend an incredible training on the Grand Mesa, diving into Winter Ecology ❄️🌲

It was a full day of learning, laughter, and hiking through feet of snow! We explored winter conservation and talked about how much of an impact humans can have on wildlife during the colder months. We participated in hands-on activities learning about wildlife overpasses and underpasses, took part in a mock town hall to debate their pros and cons, and even worked in groups to design and build our own wildlife crossings.

We also went on a track hunt, learning how to identify animal tracks common to our area, and practiced mock lynx observation and tracking. And honestly… that was just the highlights, the day was packed with so much more learning and fun!

It was an inspiring experience, and we’re so excited to bring this new knowledge, energy, and enthusiasm back to our students. Winter science is the best kind of science! 🐾✨

02/01/2026

The kids had an absolute blast this Friday and I heard many exclamations of, "This has been my favorite class of the semester!!". We were so fortunate to have a guest speaker, Sandy, from Red Wiggler worms come and visit us! The kids got to work together with direction from Sandy to build a worm farm box that we will get to feed and observe over the semester and then be able to put the worm castings in our school garden this Spring! In our other rotation we learned all about the fascinating world of worms! We learned how they navigate, how they sense vibrations, how they dislike the light and then put all of those things into practice as we took off our human hats and pretended to be worms! Watching the kids flop around all over the floor like worms was incredibly joyous and brought so much laughter! We are very excited to spend the rest of the semester being worm farmers!

01/26/2026

Last Friday was an absolute blast! This semester we are putting the focus on becoming scientists with our own science journals that we will carry with us throughout the semester! It has been fun watching the kids take responsibility for their journals and put their own spin on them! This last Friday we added three new experiments to our journal! Station 1 was creating ice candles!! The kids put on their scientist hats and made predictions on what their candles would come out looking like! We learned the science behind atoms and molecules and how they change when something is changing temperatures or moving from a liquid to a solid! Station 2 was an ice melting station where the kids experimented with different tools to find the quickest and most effective way to melt ice! Station 3 was a fun watercolor station with ice cubes! They took frozen ice cubes with food coloring on them and played with salt on their water color paper to see how it would affect the way the ice moved and melted! We also snuck in a football game in the snow and a game of uno for the kids who weren't digging the cold weather. 😂 It was a fun day for all and we are so looking forward to this Friday. We are having a guest speaker who is going to come and help us build worm boxes!!

01/17/2026

It was a wonderful start to the Spring Semester! Today was all about becoming field scientists and getting ready for the rest of the semester. The kids worked through three rotations! Rotation 1 was a scavenger not focused on how quickly they could discover items but what they could stop, observe and wonder about the items! Rotation 2 was learning all about the tools and instruments that field scientists may take out into the field with them. We also touched on the different branches of science and what they entail! In this group they were given four jars of different materials and then all the tools. They were given the prompt to pretend to be field scientists and use the tools and the items to wonder and discover. The air was filled with, "I wonder if..." "Ohhh what if we try this" "I bet if we did this!". Brain juices were flowing and discovery was happening! Rotation 3 was getting their science journals ready for the semester. They each picked their special journal and then decorated it with their own creative freedom. Discussions were had about the attributes of a field scientist and they picked which words best described them as a scientist! Of course the day wouldn't be complete without some free play where the unprompted game of choice was football!!! This is going to be an awesome semester with a super awesome group of kids!! Next week, it's all about ice!!!

01/15/2026

Hello Western Slope Wonder Academy supporters! 🌿

We are incredibly grateful to have a generous donor who contributes $100 each month to help provide outdoor learning opportunities for one of our students. Last semester, thanks to several one-time donations, we were able to offer scholarships to three students. Those funds have now been fully used, and we are seeking additional support to continue making these opportunities possible.

At this time, one of our scholarship students is fully funded, and we are looking to raise $180 per month, $450 per student per semester, to support the remaining two students. Donations can be ongoing or one-time, and every contribution makes a meaningful difference.

If you know of a local business or an individual who may be interested in supporting children’s outdoor education, we would be so thankful if you could help spread the word. Thank you for being part of our community and for supporting learning beyond the classroom! 💚

01/15/2026

In October we had our outdoor cooking class! The kids were in charge of prepping all of the food from chopping to dicing and everything in between. They made delicious foil packets with potatoes, carrots, sausage, peppers and other goodies! They then set out to collect everything they would need to build a fire! Fires were built and then of course no campfire cookout would be complete without dessert, s'mores bananas!! It was a delicious day full of fun and skill building!

01/06/2026

We were so blessed to have so many different guests join us at WSWA this last semester! Back in September Cameron and a friend joined us again to teach a backpacking course! They taught the kids the importance of what needs to be in your bag, the order that items should be in your bag and how to pack a bag for a light day trip vs an overnight trip! They practiced setting up tents and sleeping pads and had a great time getting hands on with all of the equipment! They also taught us about different water filtration methods that can be used. Everyone got to try all the different methods of filtering water, some were easier than others but either way, fun was had! We had worked up an appetite by then so Cameron taught us how to cook freeze dried foods that are great to take on a backpacking adventure! The spaghetti was the biggest hit amongst the kids and everyone came back for seconds, or thirds. 😊 It was a wonderful day and we are so thankful to the experts who are willing to come and share their knowledge with us!!

01/04/2026

Back in September we were lucky enough to have Kevin from Tortoise and the Hare Common to Exotic Pets LLC come and visit our class! He brought a bearded dragon, a tortoise, and a HUGE snake! Other guests who made an appearance were our resident Blue Tongue Skink, Tilly, and some classmates brought their leopard geckos! It was a wonderful experience getting hands on with the animals and learning some fun facts about them! At the end of class we made our very own reptile trading cards, the kids had so much fun making and trading them! Thanks Kevin!

01/04/2026