Make My Day

I do programs for kids every Saturday with a different topic and a different group of kids each week. Today the topic was "Making Sense of our Senses" and I basically just took the kids out and we explored using touch, hearing, sight, and smell.

I had the kids blind fold each other, and lead one another to something fun to feel - like a tree, or pine cone, or leaf. Then we walked along a little trail, and listened to as many nature sounds as we could. We watched for things making sounds, too. One time, we heard some rustling in the bushes, and were luckily enough to see a red fox slipping just out of view.

I had them all smell different plants. Some they liked, some they didn't. One of the kids was a cute little 4-yr old girl. She was so smart, and attentive. She had great questions and appropriate comments. Rare for a 4-yr old. All of the kids were riveted on what ever it was we were looking at, or listening to or talking about. So the whole experience was just fun.

Then at the end, I give each participant a certificate and a badge for completing the program. After they all got their badges, this little 4-yr old came up to me to show me where she put her badge. We talked about that for a little bit, and then she just looked at me, and finally said, "I wanna be like you someday."

Awe! Melt my heart! That makes a 10-hour day totally worth it.