Oh, the gems I overhear between children! The overlap of absolutely lovely manners with the texture and images of a slug, not to mention how bizarre this request would be in nearly any other context, just cracked me up!
Some people collect interesting rocks. Others collect slugs. To each his/her own!
More than meets the eye.
Using our pocket microscope and cell phone a few of the kids got to see these glimpses into a world beyond our vision capabilities. From left to right: decomposing wood, the underside of a leaf, the top side of the same leaf.
Leaf Learning
Each explorer received a different kind of tree leaf (or needles). We noticed the shapes, textures, colors, and patterns of each leaf. Then we used them for our greeting; the kids had to find the person with the matching leaf and then go look for a tree nearby that has the same kind of leaves. We used oak, maple, wild cherry, white pine, red pine, and beech tree leaves/needles and I explained that one reason leafy trees drop their leaves before winter is so the snow doesn’t weigh them down and break their branches.
Wildlife, Teamwork, and STEAM work
A dead cicada to add to my nature treasure box. Now I can show the life cycle of the cicada.This lovely spider web makes a silky roof for a possible animal den beneath a tree. Thank you to spiders for making it so we can play outside without being inundated by bugs!Thinking from the point of view of a tiny creature as we built an animal home. Developing empathy takes practice.Whoooo might live in this hole?These girls are all about teamwork and engineering!An opossum track in the mud by the creek. Thank you, ‘possums, for eating thousands of ticks every summer!Bird tracks along with raccoon, deer, and opossum tracks show us what wildlife is nearby and reminds us that where there is water, there is life!A deer hip bone?Raccoons wash their food in the creek.If you listen in as they build, you hear STEAM talk! They decide where to build, what kinds of animals might live here, how to keep the walls from collapsing, ways animals might get in and out, and what makes it look nice. Best of all, no one had to tell them to do this. They got the idea from an Exploration and Conversation card I made, and it caught their interest. Each time it fell or failed to live up to t heir expectations, they tried again until they were ready to do something else.
Never Bored
Notice the huge variety of activities they choose. Nature play and play-based learning are naturally differentiated. As long as they understand that we expect them to listen to themselves and only do what they feel comfortable (enough) doing, they will take risks and seek out learning that is developmentally just-right for them as individuals!
They use their whole bodies to navigate the creek. Learning to use the pocket microscope.She decided this tree needed bandaids where it had sap oozing out. Leaf bandaids are the solution!The Meeting Log is classroom seating.Turkey Tail mushrooms!He created this beautiful loft “nest” carefully wedged between tree trunks of a split tree. He explained how it evolved as he worked on it.I love that they can choose to work independently or with others. There are no walls or clusters of desks to force collaboration when it is not wanted.Imagining being a little animal all cozied up inside a tree.
Physical Education is not the same thing as Sports.
These days (in the privileged world) most kids who want to learn a sport will do so with or without P.E. class, but most kids do not have regular access to unstructured, independent, child-led but teacher-guided, nature play or nature study. If we bring children to a wild space we have only to teach them a few safety practices and then get out of the way because they will seek out activities that build strength, balance, coordination, flexibility, turn-taking, collaboration, spatial awareness, aim, body awareness, and body confidence. They learn to listen to and trust their bodies. Just look.
Aim and jump from just high enough to take a little risk. Children will repeat these kinds of challenges until they master them and then move on to the next level.No branches? No problem. At this age the girls are stronger than the boys and they could climb higher!After watching how one of the other kids did it, he decides to try. Think about all of the muscles and coordination this takes!Where there is a way, there is a will!Too many well-meaning adults get scared and prevent children from taking risks, even when they are ready to take them. Using hands, knees, and feet to coordinate climbing while enjoying the scents of green leaves, fresh water, and rich, muddy, soil while the sun dapples us from above.Climbing is an exciting challenge!Figuring out how to walk through sticky muck without falling takes effort and concentration.Balancing while also being aware of people nearby.
We Never Want it to End. Classroom Programs this Year?
What do you know now (about nature or yourself) that you did not know before Woods and Wetlands?Seed sketching.Some of the kids loved sharing their journal entries.Our last meeting of the summer.As a parting gift I gave everyone 3 nature treasures in the form of 3 differently fascinating tree seeds.15 is the perfect class size.
Woods and Wetlands All Year Round
Woods and Wetlands programs for classrooms are wonderful class gifts from parents and caregivers to your child’s teacher. If the school has a wild space nearby we will use it. If not, they only have to come up with funding for busing to a local place such as Luton Park or a West Michigan Land Conservancy location. I also offer private programs for small groups of children such as those who are home schooled or students who are attending virtual school during the ongoing pandemic.
Celebrating our success at freeing a living tree from beneath a fallen dead tree. We worked really hard at it for a long time!
When perseverance pays off!
Above: with careful instruction and close supervision, young children can learn to safely use real tools. This heavy, dead tree fell over a smaller living tree, trapping it against the ground. It is important to leave dead trees, branches, and logs in place whenever possible, as they provide critical habitat and food. Once we freed the living tree, allowing it to stand up again, we left the dead one to the millions of tiny living things as it gradually becomes new soil again, courtesy of decomposers.
Above: Reading and writing about real and immediately accessible experiences makes literacy a joy!
Moving upstream vs downstream. Building muscles and balance. No one had to tell them what to do.
Above and below: Shouldn’t THIS be what P.E. and science classes look like?
Geology and properties of matterBodies of water that have currentsFungi: not plant, not animalNew perspectivesResults of human-caused erosionSoil typesBody awarenessCollaborationMeasuring depth
Below: Learning to be gentle with other living creatures.
Female Green FrogDamselflyAmerican ToadPracticing how to hold just tight enough but not too tight.
Below: Learning about and carefully handling Ms. T’s Nature Treasures.
Above: I trusted this group to pass around delicate snake skins, a fragile egg, a partial muskrat skull, and seriously spiny seed pods. We don’t just tell them to be careful, we show them how. Then, little by little, trust and confidence can grow. Nothing was broken and no one was injured. This is not found in a school curriculum, but is a worthwhile life skill.
Silent greetingsThere are many ways to greet someone silently.We used sign language, waving, smiling with eye contact, and bowing.Kids have a lot of connections to this book!Reading, If You Find a Rock
Woods & Wetlands 