No Time Wasted

We introduced the kids to the exciting game of Recyclemania, in which teams raced to determine what belonged in the garbage and what belonged in the recycling. Although the kids weren’t necessarily allowed to talk to each other, it was awesome to see them working together as a team. They were quite vocal when letting their teammates know if they placed the item in the correct hoop or not. As I watched the game get “sorted out,” it became clear to me, and the kids, how important small everyday actions are. Something as little as separating your items, or taking a few extra steps to throw something in the recycling, can have a big impact on the environment. The kids quickly learned that they needed the opinions of their teammates to help them correctly sort the items, which shows that it is okay to not be an expert, but we should be open to learning more. When we learn more we start to care about our actions and how they affect the people and environment around us. Caring for the environment is a responsibility we must all accept because when we care, we create change.

Some of the items kids were shocked to know belonged in the garbage instead of the recycling were egg cartons (made out of foam), and a plastic water bottle with water still inside.

Puppeteers

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Today we got to put on a marvelous puppet show for the elementary school kids. We played animals that were a part of an ecosystem. We were able to teach the kids about what animals do for an ecosystem and what happens if humans ruin the ecosystem and what it does to there habitat. It was a really great time and the kids seemed to really enjoy it and I feel like we put on a fantastic show.

Don’t celebrate too early..

This day was full of fun activities including the web of life, oh dear, a puppet show, and a recycling relay race. It was enjoyable to watch the kids outside partaking in the activities we prepared for them, the most fun in my opinion being the recycle relay race. Watching their competitiveness brought me back to my childhood, it’s really nice to watch kids be kids. It’s even better knowing they’re learning about the environment they will hopefully continue to love as they grow. My favorite part of this day was watching the boys celebrate their “win” in the recycle relay race before the points were fully counted. They shouldn’t have celebrated too early because the girls ended up winning but the lesson about recycling and garbage they were taught made them all winners in the end.

WEB OF LIFE AND NATURE!

The web of life activity showed the importance of relationships within the circle with the kids and within the relations between living things in an environment. The kids enjoyed learning about what animal gets energy from the other or what a certain living thing need to survive. Also you would see some kids even get happy when their role is called in the web of life just because of what animal they are but little did they know without one animal the whole web could decline. As the web of life grew the webs got even bigger and when man came and took over the web declined. The students had fun and also had the chance to experience what an ecosystem really needs and what would happens without certain living things playing a role.

“What A Strong Web”

The kids had an amazing time playing around by tugging on the rope to see how everything was connected with one another. They truly tried to be a circle, but once they had the rope in their hand, they were so eager to pull the rope. Even though they weren’t entirely a circle, they had a blast seeing the relationships between organisms and how everything affects one another!

Our Web of Life

During the web of life activity, each kid was given a specific role. They got to see how changes in the environment affected the different parts of the web and how different species were all interconnected. They were able to learn about the balance of nature and how it can change. When we did the recycling vs garbage activity, we did boys vs girls and it got a good little competition going. In the end the girls pulled off the win.

Puppet Show!

The puppet show was great! Myself and others had the roll of playing various animals in an ecosystem. While covering the importance of the forest and habitat to those animals we played. Also how we can live together between humans and animals. Also the kids were fantastic, extremely respectful and seemed to love the puppet show. There was so much engagement from them. Surprisingly the kids knew their stuff responding to our questions with great answers in regards to better protecting the environment. Overall it was a great day with the kids!

Puppet Show!!

Today we had the wonderful experience of spending some time with the wonderful kids from our local elementary school. These days have been so fun and I’m so sad this was our last one of the semester. Today we got to put on some fun activities and a puppet show for the kids to enjoy. I was inside running the puppet show and had so much fun watching the kids interact with all the different scenes. I was also so impressed with their knowledge of the environment and how we can help. They are such a respectful class and we are all so thankful for the opportunity to work with them this year!

Puppet Show!

Our puppet show was a success! My peers and I each had a role of an animal in an ecosystem. We highlighted the importance of preserving the environment and the roles each animal/character had. The 5th graders also had an important part in our play since they were asked to stand up and pretend to play important aspects of the environment. They had a lot of fun pretending to be trees. They were asked a variety of questions regarding how to save the environment, and every answer was correct. They have a great understanding of the importance of trees and the impact they have.

“Oh Deer!”

Playing “Oh Deer!” with younger students was a fun way to teach about nature. In the game, students were either “deer” or “resources” like food and water. Deer tried to find the right resource by matching hand signals. If they didn’t find it, they “died” and became a resource. The game helped students understand how resources affect animal populations. It was a fun and meaningful way to connect with younger students.

That’s Garbage Not Recycling!

On Monday, we worked as bigger groups to play recycle mania and watch a play about how wolves help the environment. Recycle mania was a fun relay race where the kids had to decide if pieces of garbage are recyclable or not. The kids loved it and had so much fun! They made me laugh so hard, especially when one of the kids put a sock in the recycling hula hoop and the rest of the team was yelling “no it’s garbage not recycling!” I had such a great time working with the kids, they definitely put a smile on my face!

The Circle of Life!!

Our nice and cozy 2 weeks we have had; our objective was to teach the kids the web of life. Over the two weeks we had I believe we taught them just that. They had an absolute blast in learning the web of life. They were all engaged in learning and interacting with all the activities.

“Bicycles”

Today we got to share with the students the importance of helping out the environment, through an interactive puppet show and engaging activities. I got to help set up the web of life and then worked in the puppet show group. The puppet show being interactive allowed students to share their thoughts on how to help stop pollution. One student suggested “bicycles” stating riding your bike is better than driving cars all the time.

Hands to the Sky!

The kids were having so much fun watching the show! They were really into it and were very engaged. I love how well they interact with the show to the point they even stand up! I’m so glad these kids were able to experience an event like this and help build their connection with nature even more.

“The animals need our help!”

The kids got to be a part of the game called “Web of Life” and act out a part of the ecosystem through an animal or organism from their card. Everyone was very excited to play this hands-on game while learning how pollution is hurting animals and the planet.

We are all connected!

We had the kids play a few games, with one of them being the Web of Life. This game gave each kid a species to be, and the rope represents how everything is connected in the ecosystem. The kids were very excited when their species was called and when they got to hold the rope!

We Are The Web of Life!

Today, we learned of the web of life using a fun and interactive activity. Each student was assigned a life role in the environment (mouse, human, fish, plants, etc.) and connected through a story. We learned what happens when the web of life is interrupted, and how all forms of life are affected when the habitat balance is changed.

The Feelings Laughter Can Bring

The sounds of laughter is truly a special treat in one’s ear. The weather never stopped our enjoyment from outside. Instead the weather worked out to be beautiful for our activities, we had in store for the kids. These activities included being Web of Life, Oh Deer, Recycling Relay, and a Puppet Show. All the kids got to have a full class period full of fun. It was such a gift seeing everyone come together and work with one another throughout the day. Today was such an exciting adventure, for everyone. I am so happy that the kids had one another to smile with on the way back to school.

Exploring Ecosystems

The kids participated in four different stations: the Web of Life, a game called Oh Deer, a recycling relay, and a puppet show. They were especially engaged during the puppet show. At one point, they were asked what might happen if one part of the ecosystem were disrupted. They all responded that the ecosystem would die. The puppet show concluded with the kids affirming, “We will protect nature.”

My favorite animal is a penguin

On Monday we had the pleasure to go out and do some activities about nature with some elementary school kids. We learned about habitats, trees, leafs, and animals. One of the young kids that we worked with really loved penguins and we talked about the habitat that they lived in. We talked a decent bit about animals and decided that our motto should be “Save The Animals”.

SAVE THE ANIMALS

Today, I met four new friends and we discussed where animals live and what they need to survive: food, water, shelter, and space. We also gathered leaves and created a Venn diagram to compare and contrast them based on color, venation, and the type of tree they fell from. Then, we discussed the harm of plastics and how they end up in animals’ bellies because they mistake them for food, clogging up their stomachs. They thought they could spread the message of saving the animals and drew cute animals!

Save the Earth!

On Monday we learned about trees and how they help our environment. The kids loved learning how to measure the height of the tree, and figuring out how old it is. Our oldest tree was estimated to be over 800 years old! When we talked about what to write in our conservation message, everyone decided that “Save the Earth” was the best thing to write, along with their pictures of trees and the earth around it. I hope the kids enjoyed this as much as I did and continue to learn about nature!

“Bugs scare me but I like Rollie Pollies”

The kids drew a little ecosystem which consisted of lady bugs, a rollie pollie, a jack rabbit, a flower, a tree and the sun. They eagerly shared their thoughts about how important trees are for providing hiding spots and play areas for lady bugs, rollie pollie’s and jack rabbits.

Our group was full of energy, excited to express their experiences and opinions about different species they have encountered. A common theme among the kids was their dislike for insects specifically mosquitos, which they have found to bite and swarm near them frequently. We took the opportunity to educate the kids about the importance of insects (“bugs”) in our ecosystem. Also emphasizing that while some insect behaviors may be annoying they, pose an important roles in our environment that we might not notice. We gave examples like how insects serve as food for other species and how butterflies help pollinate plants. These insights helped change the kids views of insects from being “scary” and “sucky” to appreciating them. As a result, our group thereby came up with a quote: “Mother Nature is Beautiful.”

The kids also seemed to agree on the importance of trees in our ecosystem and made a comment like…

“I think that is an Oak tree” “Guess how tall I want to be?” “I want to be that tall” (pointing to the tree which I believe was actually an Oak tree”

I was impressed to know that one of the students had a prior knowledge of the certain tree species.

Another comment I thought was cute was…

“What if you walked up to a tree and saw maple syrup falling from it, that would be so cool”

I hate hornets! But bees are good

Our group had tons of fun learning about different trees, leaves, and the environment. They were really invested in the activities and competed to see who could pick the next tree to measure. One of my favorite moments was when we were first walking to campus as a group, one of our kids Oliver was telling me about his hatred for wasps, hornets, and bees. I told him the importance of bees in our environment, but I agree with his hatred for wasps and hornets. The last thing he said to me before we started our activities was, “I hate hornets but bees are good, like you said.” It’s nice to know my words might have an impact on how he views bees. Working with my group of 5th graders was such a fun experience, I forget how funny kids are.

“Mother Nature Is Beautiful”

The kids had an amazing time while getting to learn about nature through really fun activities. While doing this they came up with the quote, “Mother nature is beautiful,” when comparing leaves. They were very engaged and made the entire experience that much more fun, especially when they got to use the chalk!

Funny Quotes from the kids:
“I wanna be a roly-poly!”
“Rolling on the ground would be fun!”

Nature’s Soccer Ball

I would say that the goal of working with these girls was to help them connect more to nature. They were so excited to collect the different types of leaves and identify them. When doing the habitat assessment they wanted to see how many pinecones they were able to pick up (shown in the picture above). My favorite part of the day was when one of the girls said that the osage orange fruit was “nature’s soccer ball.”

“Care for Mother Nature”

Our group’s theme was “Care For Mother Nature.” The kids picked this saying themselves! They were very excited to learn about the different kinds of trees and measure the diameter of a tree in the photo. They also learned about different kinds of habitats along with kinds of leafs.

“Save Nature, My Girlfriend, So Earth Won’t End”

Hanging out with my adventurous crew, we measured the tree by pacing it out, each taking long, exaggerated steps. “One…two…three!” they counted, laughing as they stretched their legs away from the tree. After counting our steps, I shouted, “Now check under your legs!” We all bent over, and if we could see the top of the tree from between our legs, we figured the steps matched the height. It didn’t matter if we were right, we’d turned the whole thing into an adventure.

Funny things my crew said:

“This tree is my girlfriend”

“Your girlfriend is 50 years old!!!”

Writing a Statement!

I had so much fun working with these kids! In this picture we were writing down statements to tell people who walk on these sidewalks about preserving nature. One kid decided to write “Save the Trees” which was adorable and amazing. Teaching these kids young about how important nature really brings light to the newer generation.

Can I climb that tree?!?

My group had a great day out in nature! We hung out around the yard just outside of Halsey where we learned how to measure a trees height, find the differences in trees such as their branches and leaf’s, and most importantly we learned how important nature is in our world and how to further appreciate and get involved in nature. One of our kids also got to finally climb a tree at the end of our activities!

“Nature is Fun, Cool, and Intriguing!”

Our students were so excited to get outside with nature. We found out how to measure how tall a tree is and identity important features of each tree. They did an awesome job recognizing what we can do for trees, and what trees do for us. We had a lot of fun choosing our favorite color in chalk and writing some messages!

“Nature is unique and beautiful like me”

Working with the kids was such so much fun and everyone had an amazing time. We started with a habitat survey, where we explored the local environment and identified various plants and animals. Then, we learned how to determine the age of a tree and discovered different kinds of trees in the area. We also compared different leaves, noting their shapes, sizes, and textures. To top it off, we left a colorful “we love animals” message on the sidewalk with chalk. The kids were very engaged while having fun outside and learning more about nature!

“Save the turtles!”

It was such a fun opportunity to get to work with the kids! We got to explore different habitats for animals, investigate leaves, and design a conservation message. My group was very willing to ask and answer many questions they had about the activities. Our conservation message was originally save the turtles, but later changed to save the animals, because all animals matter! Below is a picture of their amazing work!

Nature Explorers: Creativity & Conservation in Action

The kids participated in multiple activities, including a habitat survey, a leaf venn diagram, identifying trees, and creating an environmental message to write on the sidewalk with chalk. The three girls came up with the message, “Don’t litter, make it glitter.” The girls enjoyed picking up as many pinecones as they could!

Nature’s Souvenir

Very many memories were made as we explored the beauty of the outdoors! It was so fun to see all the kids reactions as they headed out to go and collected different types of leaves, for our assignments. When it was time to sit down and observe the leaves, found by the kids; We spotted out as many similarities as well as differences between each and every leaf. The kids really got to take a deeper look into the details a leaf can hold within. When the time came to an end, one student was very excited to take the two leaves, that was collected from the day, and bring them back to the classroom.

“I am going to collect all different leaves and make a leaf book!”

Today we met with kids from an elementary school nearby. We did a habitat survey, learned how to find the age of a tree, learned about different kinds of trees, compared different leaves, and left a message on the sidewalk with chalk. We found a ton of cool aspects of nature as you can see on our cardboard! It was such a fun experience!

Trees!!!

Today we helped the elementary kids learn about nature. We had them do a nature survey also finding some super cool leaves and dive into the different kinds of trees nature has to offer. We also did a habitat survey and taught the kids about the different habitats and the places animals can live. The kids loved it, and we all had a great time.

Save the Trees!

Our group learned of the many types of trees in the area from their leaves, and learned how old some of these trees were. There were many that were over 100 years old.. much older than our predictions! We also worked on a nature promotion to write on the sidewalk with chalk and share with families. We chose to write “save the trees” and included some drawings of trees, cats, Christmas trees and pumpkins.

Taking Care of Nature

Today, the class helped out the campus grounds crew. We were given shovels and asked to dig up native plants not needed in those locations and move them to be planted behind the rec center. In the last part of class, we were given different plants and asked to grind them until the seeds were the only thing left.

Win or lose we learned something today

Today we visited Lourdes Academy to do some different nature activities with the children. A couple of my classmates and I were in charge of the relay race group. We had some very competitive children that loved to win! IN the end I feel that while they definitely all had fun, adding that competitiveness to the atmosphere definitely enhanced the learning experience and made it more enjoyable!

“I’m grass, I’m important!”

This Friday we were over to Lourdes Academy to work with the second and third grade students. I worked in the web of life station, which was a lot of fun with the kids. It took a little bit for them to get used to how it worked, but once they got a hang of it they did really well. All of the kids really enjoyed being a part of the ecosystem and tossing the ball of rope around the circle. It was a very good Friday out with the students.

“Are these bugs really alive?!”

On Friday, October 11th, 2024 I got the opportunity to work with 2nd and 3rd graders and teach them about different types of bugs. The kids were very intrigued by looking at bugs they had never seen before and also relating them to bugs they saw at their house. This activity was very cool to experience because each time they got a new set of bugs they would ask so many questions, they beamed with curiosity and wanted to learn about why each bug is important to us humans. After they looked at all the bugs they cut out paper leaves and made a pact to the planet on what they were going to do personally to help out the environment. I asked them what they were going to write then asked why that is so important. One child answered, “to pick up trash on the ground, it is such an easy thing to do that can help save our planet.” This is so true and I wish everyone could hear that because simple things like that, if we all contribute, can make an enormous impact on our planet. I cant wait to continue to learn more from these kids because these are the minds of our future!

“I’m an important person.”

On Friday, we got to work with 2nd and 3rd graders from Lourdes Academy. Different students from my class did different stations and all the classes took turns at each station. Some of my classmates and I did a station called the web of life. We each took turns reading a story about a pond and the students from Lourdes tossed a ball of yarn back and forth when they heard their animals name get called. The Lourdes students had fun and so did I.

“Take Care Of the Environment!”

Here the kids were listening to the puppet play. A lot of the kids found it intriguing and were quick to answer questions from the play. Even if we did mess up from reading the scriptures wrong, they still found it funny and were still listening. Overall just a fun experience.

“You’re a possum, you look so beautiful!”

Working with second and third grade students was a very interesting task. We noticed that the second graders had significantly less control over their motor skills, which is something I hadn’t thought would be an issue. We learned a lot about their knowledge of different insects and animals, and got to have a little teaching experience and help them think about what animals live in urban or rural areas.

We need to stop polluting the air!

Being apart of an interactive puppet show was a fun experience! We got to teach the kids about the environment and how we can help keep it clean. This was an opportunity to help the kids learn and be able to put a smile on their faces.

Sustainability is fun

On Friday we went to Lourdes school and spent time teaching kids through the form of a puppet where I played the wolf in the show. We taught them the importance of the ecosystem and the food chain. This was truly a magical experience and left the kids with a lasting message.

” It’s important because the river is connected to my sink”.

Today we got to spend our time helping a select group of 2nd and 3rd graders. The 6 of us got to spend our day performing a puppet show on the environment and how each plant and animal make an impact on it. This was pretty enjoyable because the kids seemed pretty intrigued with it and asked some good questions after.

“I’ve seen that in my house”

I got the privilege to work with some of the second graders at Lourdes Academy. My group and myself showed our kids different bugs and had them observe all kinds of different features. These kids got to observe big moths, butterflies, spiders, grasshoppers, and way more. After observing the bugs we had the kids cut out leaves and right their pledge to the planet. We asked them how can you help nature or what can you do to save our ecosystems. Then we had them hang the leaves up on a tree to make our own little pledge to the planet tree. Overall it was great experience and the kids were very respectful and fun.

“ Recycling is cool”

This last Friday we had the privilege of working with the youth of Lourdes school. We taught them the importance of recycling and how some things are recyclable and how some are not Through a relay race. overall it was a really fun experience and all the kids had a blast learning about saving the planet.