 |
 |
Parks & Rec Business
| Toad Skin Rolls & Goose Poop Crackers Running a memorable “Nature’s Yucky” Camp By Dr. Karen I. Shragg “I found a water scorpion, and it breathes through its butt!” one child shouted as we returned from our pond study during first- and second-grade graduate camp. All I could do was smile and prepare the snack of the day: bird poop-filled nests. As informal educators, we are always looking for ways to teach about the natural world that are memorable and will leave a lasting impression without the more formal tools of reading and testing. We tend to measure our success by how enthusiastic the kids are to come back the next day, and how much they are able to share with their parents what they’ve learned. That’s the repeated mantra of two books I’ve had the pleasure of writing with fellow naturalist and environmental educator Lee Ann Landstrom, director of the Eastman Nature Center in the Three Rivers Park District in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan areas. Nature’s Yucky! and Nature’s Yucky 2! describe how the gross stuff of nature helps it to work. We packed the books full of facts intended to help kids learn while they are cringing. So why not use the books as a basis for a whole week of nature camp? Setting The Tone Each day I read a few pages from the Nature’s Yucky! series to set the tone for the day’s activities. I wanted to save a few pages for them to read on their own because on the last day, I gave each excited camper his/her own copy of Nature’s Yucky 2! There was a treat, hike and art project oriented to each day’s theme: Decomposer Day, Scat Day, Territory Day, Yucky Stuff That Birds Do Day and Vomit Day. On Decomposer Day, for example, while hiking we turned over logs in the woods and scooped for pond critters, focusing on the yuckier features of the animals. A study of bees revealed that honey was really bee barf as mentioned in the book, and gave the bee program a heightened interest. Crafts were fun too. We painted cloth bags with brown paint to represent the scat (animal droppings) that we went scouting for on a scat hike. We made deer-cud bowls out of clay and sticks, and glued snakeskin on paper in order to paint snakes around them. Cotton batting simulated owl pellets, and we glued uncooked noodles in them to represent the bones often found in real pellets. The yucky factor quickly morphed into a cool factor as some of the kids caught on that all of nature has a role to play, and what we think of as yucky is just a way to survive. “That’s not yucky, that’s cool!” one camper admonished another who had demeaned a worm for being gross. Turning Lessons Into Treats Included in the book are recipes for yucky snacks, but a whole week’s worth of activities and yucky-inspired food required some brainstorming. I must admit it was fun to walk the grocery aisles and shop with the yucky factor in mind. Yogurt-covered pretzels suddenly became “bird-poop pretzels,” and Tootsie rolls were converted into dung balls with gummy lizard centers, representing the larvae, whose first meal is mammal dung. Toad skin rolls were spring rolls filled with bean-thread noodles, which when cooked, look just like toad guts. What to use for goose poop was answered in the deli. Pesto did the trick. What to drink? Urinade, of course, and on-sale lemonade was the perfect fit. Author’s Note: Nature’s Yucky! and Nature’s Yucky 2! by Lee Ann Landstrom and Karen I. Shragg are published by Mountain Press. Agencies can often buy educational books from publishers at wholesale prices; thus, each child has his/her own book and a lasting impression of this unusual and wacky camp. -----------------Sidebar--------------------- Recipe: Bird Poop-Filled Nests Concept: Bird “parents” must remove fecal sacs of the young with their beaks so that the nests are not filled with disease-causing poop. Ingredients: Chinese crunchy noodles, chocolate chips, prepared white frosting. Melt chocolate chips in the microwave, spoon over a cup of noodles, and have kids mix with their hands to form a loose nest in a bowl. The chocolate represents mud, but this mud they can lick from their fingers. Add a spoonful of frosting, and you have a yummy, yucky treat. Goose Poop Pie Ingredients: Pre-made pie crust, peppermint bon-bon ice cream. Fill pre-made pie crust with ice cream and refreeze. |
All contents contained within this website may not be reproduced or disseminated without expressed written permission from the Publisher.