Advent Sun Calendar: Day 12, "Beautiful Bark"
Usually December files by in a rush of stress and too many things on the "to-do" list. But oh no, not this time. Over here we are slowing it down, taking a step back, and ramping up our day to day fun factor. While some of the pressure of the Holidays still exists it is not all consuming. And from my kids perspective, it's not even on their radar. All they know is that each day they get to wake up, run to the calendar, and see what kind of fun thing is written on their tags for the day.
Our "Beautiful Bark Treasure Hunt" was the theme for today. What I love about all that we have been doing, this one included, is that there are so many opportunities for learning that coincide with the plans we have for each day. Even simple activities hold the potential for such huge teaching moments. And honestly, I don't really plan these things out as much as watch them unfold and grab onto the ideas I have for further learning as I go. I believe in an organic process with kids, too much planning and the whole thing usually goes up in smoke!
So, back to "Beautiful Bark"...this was inspired by an article I read that was based off a walk through an Arboretum. I changed it to fit our needs of course but I loved the idea of taking advantage of the "visibility" that winter offers while in the woods. I've been thinking about this a lot lately ~ trying to embrace change, even if it's cold and oh so much harder to get the kids out the door! I want to take full advantage of all that this chilly season has to offer. One of the things we are starting is a season long "Beautiful Bark Treasure Hunt". We are going to collect bark whenever we are out to a new place.
So what to do with all this bark, and why bother? That could be a reasonable reaction of some. I kind of do these things on a whim but am always amazed at how all the puzzle pieces seem to click into place once I put my brain to work. As an artist I think I am prone to creative connections and lots of them. So with this one, I started right away getting excited about all the conversation that could unfold with this ongoing activity. Luckily I have a very inquisitive son who is interested in everything and daughter, who at not even two, gets excited about everything when it's brought down to her level. And I think that's the key ~ adjusting to suit the interests and needs of your particular kids. Anyways, here's what I've been brainstorming so far...
* Harvesting Bark
* Living Bark
* Food Supply Line For the Tree
* Animals that Eat or Use Bark
* What bark we can eat
* Patterns in Bark
* How is Bark like our own Skin?
As the kids received their slips of paper, I told them there were two treasure hunts today. One was indoors and one was outdoors. One would only last today, while the other would be something we would be working on all winter. The indoor hunt was a big hit and is one we will probably do again from time to time. I used it to set the stage and to get them excited to start talking about the long-term search we will be on outdoors.
I quickly collected "matching" natural materials we had around the house and then realized that my 1 1/2 year old would be better off finding all the same material so I switched hers to just shells. Then a fun treasure map was created with the help of my son (who then in turn made a map for his sister!). Once all the items were hidden they ran off to follow the map and find the goods. So fun.
Later on in the day I mentioned more about the tree bark. I always take the opportunity when my daughter naps to dive in a little deeper with my son. I reminded him about the tree bark hunt and told him there was a certain way to collect bark so as to not hurt the trees. His interest was peaked when I told him there were particular tools for the job too. I showed him the pictures we took of the bark that was missing from the trees that the beavers had eaten. I said, "do you notice that they never eat a circle around the tree trunk, but instead only take from one side?". This led us down the road of the function of the inner layer of bark, being to feed the tree. I explained that you never want to rip bark from all around the tree or the tree might get sick. It was really interesting to talk about the bark "food line" because he could totally relate to it in "construction" terms. If damage the line it can't deliver the food.
We also talked about the medicine can be made from certain types of tree bark and that even the medicine he takes when he has a fever was first made from the bark of a willow tree. Harvesting bark is something that can be done to make medicine still today and tasting a twig from a tree can tell you how strong and what type of properties it may contain. Then I made him pinky swear never to taste a tree without me - lol. And we headed outside to grab a couple samples.
The slushy snow was quite an attraction so the collection process kind of took a back seat but I'm excited that we started and can't wait to see how many samples we can collect over time. I would imagine that some days while we are out we may be more fascinated by the process then others but hey that's the way things work at this stage of the game. The whole idea for me is always to introduce new ways to interact with the world. I want my kids to take the time to stop and observe. This is just one more way to pay attention ~ life can be so interesting if we take the time to stop and look.
