It was wonderful to team teach with the new Americorp Early Childhood Educator at the Nature Center. We met together and planned yesterday and today it made it much easier for us to keep 15 or so children and their parents engaged in nature exploration.
Our topic today was salamanders. However, we did not find any salamanders at Seward Park. There may not be any. But, we will continue to look. In the meantime here is what we did to engage the youngsters in nature connection and play.
First the children entered and made a play dough salamander. Then we read a few books: In the Small Pond by Denise Fleming and The Salamander Room by Anne Mazer. In The Salamander Room a young boys brings a salamander to his house and in telling his mom how he plans to care for it- he connects his salamander to the web of nature.
We shared a few poems and songs before heading out on our nature walk and exploration. Along the native plant trail we had children and their caregivers look for things that salamanders need- where could your salamander live, what could it eat- many are mentioned in the book-and along this trail were leaves, decomposing logs, insects, large stones and even small pools of water.
Next we played a salamander game.
Finally we ended at the lake and dipped for water macro invertebrates as well as searched along the shore. The kids found mostly shells and rocks, but had a great time scooping and exploring. They also used magnifiers to investigate.
We ended with a couple of songs and a closing circle.
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