A sit spot is just what it sounds like — a spot to sit.

On their monthly visit to the forest surrounding Skyliners Lodge this year, kindergartners from Pine Ridge Elementary School in Bend would spend five minutes in their sit spot, observing what they saw and smelled and heard and how the forest had changed since the last time they were there.

“I hear birds chirping, I see a lot of trees,” 6-year-old Abby Zeppetella said during Friday’s visit, kicking the ground. It used to be covered in snow. Now, she said, “It has a lot of bark chips and pine cones.”

Beginning in October, four kindergarten classes at Pine Ridge came to the forest each month so students could get a lesson in the natural world. Some months there were guest speakers — from the U.S. Forest Service, about the life cycle of trees, or from The Environmental Center, about animal tracks — but there was always time to play. (Even over the long winter, when they bundled up for snowball fights.)

“We are really loose, purposefully,” said Karen Brocker, one of the kindergarten teachers. “It’s been really fun to see the teamwork and problem-solving.”

Friday was the final trip to the forest for the year, and parents and grandparents were invited to come see what their students had learned.

“I’m having a hard time keeping up with her,” said Debra Feeley, chasing down her 5-year-old granddaughter, Kiley. Their destination: A makeshift teeter-totter up the hill, with one log resting on top of another and a line of kids forming to take turns.

Elsewhere kids were building forts with larger branches and darting through the trees. After building a squat cabin made of sticks, 6-year-old Atlas McCoy and his grandmother, Julie Borthwick, headed down to Tumalo Creek to look for bugs, turning over rocks along the muddy shoreline.

“Oh there’s one. Did I get it? I got it, whoo-hoo,” Borthwick shouted.

Brocker had the idea for the monthly visits after hearing a story on the radio about students in Vermont who spent time in a forest every Monday; that school was inspired by a program in Switzerland where kids were outside all day.

The Pine Ridge teachers got grants to help pay for transportation and the speakers. They hope to continue the monthly visits next year.

Said Brocker: “We’d do it every day if we could.”

— Reporter: 541-617-7837,

aspegman@bendbulletin.com