A kindergarten tree walk
Kindergarten is proving to be quite a fun place for my daughter. They went on their first field trip the other day; it was a 'tree walk'. They have been studying trees: how they grow, and how they change with the seasons, so a tree walk was the perfect ending for their studies. I volunteered that day, and arrived at the school a few minutes before the bus left. There were several mothers there, and we all helped the teacher line the children up and get them ready for their big trip.
When I say 'big trip', I mean that it was big for them, because it was exciting, and their first so far this year. It was actually just a five minute trip, up the road, to the Wenatchee Valley College grounds. The bus parked and let us off. We walked over to a shady area where one of the college staff greeted us. There were several stations of fun activities, all to do with trees. One was an observation of chlorophyll.
The children had to find a large leaf, put in on a wooden board, under a white sheet of material, and then bang it all over with a hammer. Kindergarteners with hammers? Now, that sounds risky! They loved it! And they could see, as they banged, the green chlorophyll come out of the leaf and soak into the material. Another activity, which I'm sure was one of their favorites, was to build habitats for wild animals out of bark and pine cones.
Kindergarten is proving to be quite a fun place for my daughter. They went on their first field trip the other day; it was a 'tree walk'. They have been studying trees: how they grow, and how they change with the seasons, so a tree walk was the perfect ending for their studies. I volunteered that day, and arrived at the school a few minutes before the bus left. There were several mothers there, and we all helped the teacher line the children up and get them ready for their big trip.
When I say 'big trip', I mean that it was big for them, because it was exciting, and their first so far this year. It was actually just a five minute trip, up the road, to the Wenatchee Valley College grounds. The bus parked and let us off. We walked over to a shady area where one of the college staff greeted us. There were several stations of fun activities, all to do with trees. One was an observation of chlorophyll.
The children had to find a large leaf, put in on a wooden board, under a white sheet of material, and then bang it all over with a hammer. Kindergarteners with hammers? Now, that sounds risky! They loved it! And they could see, as they banged, the green chlorophyll come out of the leaf and soak into the material. Another activity, which I'm sure was one of their favorites, was to build habitats for wild animals out of bark and pine cones.