Rounding Out of Cold Blood
The middle of March??? There are only 2 weeks left of the Winter Season!! Okay…
My first ever Big Kids Club – In Cold Blood – has been so fun. A bit chaotic, sometimes, very lively, and (if I may say so), highly educational. 😉
Seriously, when Maksim sees me these days, he asks, “What are we going to learn about today?”
It’s just what I had hoped!
Every Wednesday since January, we’ve gotten together in the office to study the cold-blooded creatures. We watch videos, make notes about the interesting things we learn, and then act out our lessons. First, we covered reptiles, then fish, and here we are, half-way through our time with amphibians.
My idea for March had been to focus on frogs, but the kids’ interest in salamanders (because it’s a swimming class level), is off the charts.
Denet found this amazing music video that really embodies the flavour of our days lately… Go ahead, play it for your kids!
Warning: It is completely ridiculous, and incredibly catchy. Click the image above to check it out.
Engaging children’s interest in animals is easy. Too easy.
To make In Cold Blood mean something, I wanted them to begin to appreciate nature’s delicate balance, and the roles that humans play in our world ecosystem. It may sound ambitious, but my girl Mari knows that changing the food crocodiles eat in response to environmental changes is called adaptation, and that over time, these changes lead to evolution. We talked about it In Cold Blood. 🙂
They also need to know that human impacts on nature have led to changes that are putting many amphibian species in danger of extinction.
Big Kids Club is also about social skill development, and nothing brings kids together like a shared interest: All children love animals. The kids banded together, rooting for their favourite reptiles, forming our team of Superheros of the Sea, and trekking across the city on fieldtrips to:
- UBC’s Pacific Museum of the Earth
- Habitat Island in Olympic Village
- Stanley Park’s Lost Lagoon
If you are a current Regular Member, you can request access to the private dropbox folders to see the full albums, and anyone can visit our photo privacy policy, to understand which pics are shared where.
These are some of my favourite among the non-identifiable*. These are the fieldtrips. Thanks to Denet, and Isabel for joining us, and my own huge thanks to all the kids for making each trip magical, and in fact, the whole season was so much fun. I was constantly impressed by your questions and curiosity. You guys are the best!
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