Club Day. The Nature Version.

The book Green Crafts for Children has been seeing some use these past couple of weeks.  So it was literally quite handy as I sat down this weekend to put together what Nature Club would be up to this week.  As I flipped through its well-worn pages, I was reacquainted with the tic-tac-toe game made of found materials that looked easy and fun.  After all, it would be a breeze to find stones and fallen twigs, and we had leftover string from other craft projects.  Jaelyn, Astrin and I set out to the park to find enough twigs this afternoon.  It was a blissfully wonderful way to while away the afternoon.

Actually pulling off the project was easier said than done.  To assemble the board and X's, the twigs needed to be lashed together.  I had quite a bit of difficulty explaining how to lash to the group as a whole.  It didn't take long for me to break them into pairs, and then I showed each pair how to lash the twigs together, with one holding the twigs in place, if needed, while the other joined them together with the string.  The Clubbers persevered through making the board, then ran into the warm sun to collect rocks for the O's.  And it was there that they stumbled upon the ladybugs.

Yes, there were many ladybugs roaming around the rocks.  Which led to a marvellous ladybug hunt, followed by creating homes for the ladybugs in jars.  The Club very enthusiastically and lovingly placed stones, plants, raisins, and a wee bit of water into the jars, followed by a handful of ladybugs, then topped with a piece of scrap fabric secured by an elastic band.  As one Clubber ran past, she shouted, "We're going to take care of the ladybugs at every meeting!"  And then she was off collecting more ladybugs.  What a fun way to cap off the afternoon!

In other news, I found myself witnessing firsts today, as Jaelyn, Astrin and I walked to picked up some of our Nature Clubbers.  Relatively obscure firsts, but firsts nonetheless, and I'm grateful for the opportunity to witness them.  On our walk, Astrin stepped into the realm of the imaginary.  She was pushing her stroller, then stopped and informed me she needed to move the baby to a different spot.  She toddled to the front, reached in, cupped her hands around the imaginary baby, then carefully placed it elsewhere.  So sweet.