Well that was fun wasn't it! Just over half of the Environmental Studies class participated in their first Nature Night ever. Although McKenzie Barry has been organizing the Nature Nights for a few years now, the 12 Environmental Studies students who participated on Thursday, September 23, found out first hand how exciting these events can be.
I would like to say a very public THANK YOU to the Lower Platte South NRD for allowing high school students to participate in such a worth while event.
So finally here's the assignment:
This is your moment to reflect on your experience at the Hartley Elementary Nature Night. You will get no other direction other than to write about the evening and cover at least TWO paragraphs. Write more if you would like as this reflection is about you and your experience. The photos are for your inspiration.
Nature Night was really fun to do but exhausting. We were lucky to have patient and nice kids to work with but every once in a while there would be a kid that was harder to work with. The crayons were a LIFE SAVER. Since somehow I was the only person that knew how to tie the loop in the string when we'd get rushes I would have the kids start decorating while I started tying all of the loops and strings.
ReplyDeleteWe found out we also needed to pre-fold them since most kids had problems folding the sides right. Maybe next time we should draw lines on the paper to help guide them better...or we can just keep pre-folding. All in all I enjoyed doing it even if my group and I had a few moments of well...frustration. I really liked it and if I were to do it again I now know exactly what needs to be done. Also if I did it again hopefully the weather would be nice so we could go FLY them.
I hope we made a difference.
I thought that it was a very fun time. We got there plenty of time to set up which was wonderful. My groups booth was in the corner because we wanted to have room for the tent and all the other camping material. Once we got set up it went smooth and i think we brought enough stuff to keep people interested. I know that a lot of the parents enjoyed our camping booth by the different things they were telling us.
ReplyDeleteAlthough at first the kids weren't too excited about the camping materials because we didn't have a craft to exactly make there or an animal to see they ended up really enjoying it. It surprised me that a lot of kids didn't know exactly what a compass was (which was the craft that we showed them). There were those kids that knew everything about camping but yet someone of them had no idea about any type of material to bring, but that could have been them being shy.
Over all I would say that it went wonderful and I would most love to do another one. Seeing the kids faces and how they lit up by some of the activities (not just ours) was really awesome. I know that we did make an impact on the kids and/or on the parents.
My experience at Hartley Elementary Nature Night was very rewarding and just an all-around great time. The kids that I was able to work with responded really well to our activity, which was kite making, and even the parents got involved! Many parents promised to take their kids outside the next day to fly their newly made kites. A lot of the children told me that they had never flown a kite before, so I was extremely happy that I could give them an opportunity to experience something new AND eco-friendly!
ReplyDeleteI also really enjoyed seeing what the other booths had to offer, and talking to volunteers from other organizations. Overall, everyone involved made this a great experience for kids who might not get much of a chance to enjoy nature or never knew how to. I personally found Nature Night to be a very enriching experience for me, and I feel so great knowing that I made a difference in kids' lives.
Nature night was a pretty cool event. It was fun to see kids light up about making paper kites out of scrap materials. Though it was a busy station, it was worth expanding kids horizons about recycling and eco-consciousness. Hopefully, they will be able to be channel their creativity in an environmentally conscious manner.
ReplyDeleteI think Nature Nights are a great idea. Especially placed in an area like Hartley. The amount of diversity encountered was great. Getting eco-friendlyness into all parts of the community, in different areas, is important to changing society's view about the environment. There was much more enthusiasm than I expected, so i was glad all the effort put toward making useless paper kites was not wasted.Hopefully, last night let children realize how wonderful the environment is.
Kayla said...
ReplyDeleteI actually had a lot of fun at nature night. I was expecting it to be slow and boring but there were a lot of kids there. I also thought that many people wouldn't want to do it, in fact a lot of them didn't want to participate in the barefoot hiking. But the ones that did I think actually liked it. Most of the kids stepped on the rocks, sand stone, grass, and moss. A lot of them wouldn't step on the fungus or bark. They thought the fungus was poisonous and thought they could get something from it. They also were scared to try the bark, probably because we had big chunks of it.
I also think Jenna and I scared some of the little kids with our lizard suits. I would say something to them and they would just look at me like I'm crazy. I got a lot of parents ask me what I was also. But some kids actually did like our suits. This one girl wanted me to get her one and said we should have brought some for everyone. So overall I think our barefoot hiking was a success. We got a lot of people to try it and we actually got one parent to try.
First off I would like to thank McKenzie Barry and the Lover Platte South NRD for hosting nature night and letting us be a part of it. It was very rewarding to help teach kids about nature and get them more involved within the community. There was a great turn out and there was never a dull moment. I was working the Pine Cone Bird Feeder station, which had a steady flow of people the whole night. It was fun to interact with the kids and get a little messy but also get them excited to experience nature.
ReplyDeleteI feel that many kids walked away from nature night with a new outlook on the environment and the same things they can to do make a difference. I heard a lot of kids talking about how excited they were to go home and hand their feeders up and watch for birds to eat off it. Something as simple as a pine cone with bird seeds can spark their love for nature and we were a part of it, that’s truly rewarding. Hopefully their will be more nature nights to come, thanks again!
I thought nature night was a lot of fun!! I was glad to see that a lot of kids showed up even though it was raining out. I was curious to see how it would turn out after we did the role playing in class, but the kids were really well behaved. Me and kayla decided to wear lizard suits to draw attention to our booth, which it did. overall i really enjoyed the Nature night and cant wait for the next one!
ReplyDeleteThe barefoot hiking went really well. The kids that tried it really enjoyed it. Most of them had never walked on fungus or moss before so it was a good experience for them. Not many of the parents tried it, but the ones that did try thought it was pretty cool. My favorite booth would have to be the trash art. Its a fun way to make art and other things using trash that you normally would of thrown away.
Grace was talking about having problems with folding. I think that if they pre folded all of the kites that would be better. Some children do not have the patience to fold their own and do not have the skills to fold it perfectly.
ReplyDeleteAs for Abby, Im glad that your group had a good time. I know that I wish i would have learned more about camping when I was kid, so I am sure that your group has a positive impact on a least a few kids lives. :)
I am very excited to do our activity, next thursday. Everybody seemed to have a very good time and found a reward out of it.
Well the nature night from yesterday looked like it went very well. Since i didn't go yesterday looking at the pics was helpful. I am excited for my booth on the 30th. I think that the kids will find bug hunting fun because it is something they can do in there own backyard. I think that little kids will also find that the grasshoppers and stuff in our display cool. I don't quite know what the challenges will be but it will be fun. And plus its also a good way for the kids to go outside, even if it just outside in there backyard.
ReplyDeleteFrom what I have heard it sounds like nature night went very well. The pics were very helpful too.
I did not get the opportunity to attend the nature night last night, but from what i have been reading i am excited to attend the next one. When we did the practice demonstrations in class it made me a little nervous because i realized how much more work i need to do to be properly prepares, and how to handle the children.
ReplyDeleteI think it will be fun. And i am looking forward to it.
So Jenna and Kayla are super freaks for wearing those lizard costumes. I swear they scared away half the kids with those get-ups and because they were basically in front of us and warded them off. The nature night was fun though. We were pretty busy and had some interesting kids come to our stand. Of course we all got bling courtesy of Leah and Kaitlin.
ReplyDeleteWhen we asked some of the parents if they ever go camping some replied "Aww heck nahh, I ain't going out with all them bugs and junk" or like "Pshh no! I go anywhere it's in my RV!". That was the typical stuff we heard but every now and again we would actually have someone who was interested and really thought the information we were giving them was extremely helpful.
aLex W
At nature night it was a fun and great experience! Even though I'm not that good with kids i think i did pretty well. Teaching them about barefoot hiking was really fun. Some kids didn't want to do it because they thought they would hurt there feet and they didn't want to get their feet or socks dirty. but the kids that did participate they had fun but they didn't want to touch the fungi because they thought it was poisonous but the ones who actually did step on it they liked the feeling because it felt soft like carpet. The kids were entertaining watching them hisatent on stepping on the materials. Some really confused but they seemed like they had fun. There was one girl who was last that came and she filled out a survey and she decided she wouldn't want to go barefoot hiking because there is glass everywhere on trails, by far the cutest and funniest things that a child said that night.
ReplyDeleteI think all the kids learned something from the booths, because each gave them good information about the environment. Some parents were not involved at all for barefoot hiking at least. i tried to get a mom do it with her daughter but she wasn't interested at all. i think that if more parents did it the more kids would enjoy the experience. Some people were attracted to our table because of Kayla and Jenna dressed up because they looked like lizards and kids like costumes and creatures. while other kids were scared to approach us.
I felt that nature was a big success. It was fun seeing the kids enjoy barefoot hiking and getting excited about it to. I was I didn't have to leave early because I missed it when it was at its busiest time. There were a lot of kids that were scarred to walk onto the fungi so we had to keep reassuring them it was okay.
ReplyDeleteI am glad that I am able to still participate in more nature nights. Next nature night we're going to make barefoot hiking more of a path for the kids to walk on instead of just having the different items spread across the floor. I would also like to see more surveys and informational cards taken but we will work on it. I felt like a lot went well and it will only get better.
i was not able to attend Nature nights yesterday but from what i have been reading i am excited to attend Nature Nights the following week. It will be a great experience for me to work with kids and to let them know that there is more to do outdoors than just being stuck inside their home. i hope to make a difference to all the kids. I will probably be kind of nervous but i will get the hang of things and it will be a great time. i am looking forward to Nature Nights next week.
ReplyDeleteAlthough at first I was rather dreading Nature Night and having to interact with all of those kids, but slowly as the crowd began to pick up I really enjoyed teaching the kids about camping and how to make a compass. Honestly I believe some of the kids greatly appreciated us there. Overall I would say Nature Night was a complete success and think that McKenzie Barry should continue organizing such events in the future. I strongly feel that many of the kids actual got something out of Nature Night and hope that maybe actually some of the families will try camping, and enjoy it thanks to us. At first, I was a little skeptical about the turn out because of the rain but it didn’t seem to make a noticeable difference.
ReplyDeleteI definitely would participate in another Nature Night especially since we get credit for gopo hours. I actually enjoy the interaction with the kids and feel rewarded when you teach them. I found a lot of humor in some of the interactions we had especially with the parents. All in all the experience was great and I had no complaints. I feel good whenever I help someone, especially kids that may be less fortunate than what we may be exposed to on this side of town.
Nature Night was a great experience. It all happened thanks to many doners and supporters. Nature Night was a blast. It was fun to get to see the many different types of families that came by. All of thei kids were well behaved, and listened to us well. The pine cones were fun but really messy. I think the kids will enjoy seeing the birds or squirrels that will eat from the pine cone.
ReplyDeleteAll of the stations were cool, the firefly was very interesting. It really got the kids interested because who doesn't like GLOW STICKS. The stations were great ways to get kids involved with nature and just being active. The stations that were mainly information had great information for the kids. Overall i would say last night was a great success, i think everyone (the kids, parents, and voluteers) had a great time.