Exploring Spring
Judith T. Kesselman, Senior Conservation Educator/Staff Developer, Tiorati Workshop for Environmental Learning, Sufferen, New York
If the change that occurs from the time snow disappears until the onset of summer made noise we would all be deafened. As buds open, grass sprouts, dandelions appear, and temperatures warm, there are a million things happening under, on, and above the earth that children find fascinating. They need us only to encourage them and to provide the time and the place to explore.
Spring is the ideal time to make outdoor play an exciting adventure. Give the children tablespoons to dig with and lead them to a grassy patch or a woodland area and let them go to it. Then give them shoe boxes, egg cartons, clear glass, and plastic containers to house their collections in. Ask them what they found in the dirt? (Rocks, roots, leaves, worms, bugs, litter?) Or rope off a square yard or meter and ask them how many things they can find. Let them paste what they find on paper. Take them for a walk in a woods or grassy area. Give them collection bags or buckets. Ask them to collect what interests them.
Back in the classroom (or in the home) put out large sheets of paper and sort the collections according to groupings of the children's choosing. Let them arrange and rearrange.Dont be in a hurry-the sorting can go on for days!
Bring the outside in by bringing in twigs or branches with buds. Put them in water and watch the leaves and flowers open. As the leaves come out, collect different kinds of leaves and let the children match leaf shapes. Have the children go outside and find the different leaf shapes on the trees.
Set up a temporary earthworm farm. (Clear plastic salad bar containers, some earth, a few worms, and sprinkle with water every few days.) Allow the children who want to, to handle the worms (wet hands only please, and they must wash their hands when they are finished.) Allow the children to observe how the earthworms move. Ask the children to use their own bodies and move as the worms do. After a few days, return the worms to the out doors.
Sprout seeds (lima beans, lentils, packets of garden seeds) on wet paper towels. Observe the root, stem, and leaf development. Plant the sprouted seeds in pots of soil or outside and watch them grow. On walks look for other sprouting seeds. (Sprouting acorns are quite large and very fascinating to children.)
For information on the Tiorati Workshop for Environmental Learning, contact: Judith P. Kesselman, Tiorati Workshop, BearMountain, NY 10911. (914) 351-5354.
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