On Friday our boys participated in a class at the local Arboretum. It was fabulous. Although it had a topic of the day- bats; the children and adults enjoyed it because of the delightful pacing. Planned activities were interspersed with the children's own discoveries. Mushrooms were bountiful today and the kids seemed to find them all. Compost piles were heaped in different areas & Teacher Sarah allowed the children to explore them by climbing up and over them. For one child every pile of dirt begged poking at- and he found plenty of time to poke & dig. Meanwhile, a story about bats was woven throughout the day with science, art, literacy and physical activities.
The day started with open ended activities until everyone had gathered
Then the kids were able to touch a real bat specimen.
Kids were handed out a "rubber" bat and they learned the parts of the bat as well as developed a connection to it by carrying it around all day.
The kids began the day by using "echolocation" and learning one another's names. The teacher said her name; the kids repeated it.
The kids were bats: looking for insects, looking for shelter.
Then they heard the story of Stella Luna.
The children also learned about how a mother bat finds her baby bat with her own particular sound:Old film canisters were filled with different objects and the kids had to find the child who had the other one that sounded like theirs.
Then the kids played a game where the children had to find a tree to "sleep in" and when the sun came up and then when it was night they ran around catching insects.
In closing there was a painting activity. A silhouette of a bat was taped onto a large piece of paper the kids were told to paint around the bat and then the bat was removed and they were supposed to see the "bat" on the paper.
As an observer/ participant mother along for the adventure I saw kids engaged all day, but also thriving with just some of the "free play" opportunities: stopping to throw leaves, lay in the leaves, and look at the leaves. Investigation of a nurse log that was filled with shelf mushrooms and had isopods crawling in and out of cracks. Discovering HUGE leaves that were big enough to be umbrellas.
The day was so lovely & it inspired my family to stay and experience the arboretum for another couple of hours....and bats became a topic of family discussions as well as other nocturnal animals.
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