Home

Steamboat Springs — Marley Noble, 4, decided he did not have quite enough food to get through the long winter.

"Let's take one more hunt!" he shouted, before crawling through indoor, makeshift "snow tunnels" -- made of long tables and chairs -- in search of hidden peanuts and raisins.

Marley was one of several children taking part in Yampatika's "Critter Kids" program Thursday. The program, for children ages 4 and 5, teaches about the winter habits of animals including chipmunks, voles, weasels, shrews and beavers in a two-hour morning session.

The program began this week at the Yampatika Educational Partnership, on Weiss Drive, and runs through March.

Each session has its own theme. Thursday's was "Snowy Labyrinth," which taught children including 5-year-olds Quinn Connell and Tristen Opper about the tunnel systems that small mammals make under heavy snow.

Joining Marley in the search for food, Quinn and Tristen made high-pitched chirping noises and crawled on all fours.

"It looks like we have a whole family of chipmunks here," Yam--patika naturalist Heidi Mit--zelfeld said.

Mitzelfeld guided the seven children who attended Thursday's session through coloring a picture of a mammal, playing outside to dig for critters in the snow, listening to two stories about animals in the winter, gathering and storing the hidden trail mix snacks and more.

"We also practice being beavers by sliding down the hill," Mitzelfeld said as the kids played on a snow bank outside the Yampatika classroom. "That's just plain fun."

Themes for this week's Critter Kids sessions are "Teamwork Wins" on Tuesday, about the hunting tactics of a pack of wolves; "Where Should I Hide" on Thursday, about how animals stay warm in the winter; and "Big Furry Feet" on Saturday, about the "natural snowshoes" of Colorado wildlife.

Yampatika also offers a program for 3- and 4-year-olds, called Yampatikes, on Fridays and Saturdays. The goal of that hands-on activity program is to "awaken your child's curiosity about the natural world."

Mitzelfeld said 4-year-olds can attend either program at the discretion of parents.

-- To reach Mike Lawrence, call 871-4203 or e-mail mlawrence@steamboatpilot.com