The outdoors is full of many wonderful creatures. Now that summer vacation is here, take some time to sit by a tree or in a grassy spot and simply watch and listen. What are the birds doing? Do you see any signs of deer? Get down at ground level and find some of the insects. Look under rocks and logs. Look in the trees for squirrels. What are they doing and how do they behave?
If you are lucky, maybe you will see a fox or a bird you have never seen before. Bring binoculars and/or a magnifying glass if you wish, but mostly take time and pay attention to your forest neighbors. How many different kinds of beaks do you see on the different birds? What color fur does the squirrel have and how does it use its tail? Notice the legs and mouth parts of the different insects. Do they all have wings?
These different physical traits that animals have are called adaptations. Every animal is designed in special ways to find food, water, shelter and to reproduce. Survival is the name of the game in the wild and every animal has different ways of doing it.
After your nature visit, have fun inventing your own animal by putting different traits together. For example, you might want your animal to have wings so it could fly, sharp teeth for eating meat and hooves for running in the forest. Could this animal survive? Why or why not?
Cut out, color and use the body parts provided to make different combinations. Make some more of your own as well. You can use a paper circle, oval, square or any shape you wish for the main body, or use a fruit or a vegetable like a carrot or a pear.
Happy Summer!
Kelly Dupre of Grand Marais is an artist, children’s author, and educator with over 20 years teaching experience with all age groups in a variety of settings. The activities in this once-a-month column are spinoffs and combinations of ideas she has used and learned from teachers, parents, kids, books, and workshops. Only some of the activities has she actually thought of herself! Do you have a project or an idea you would like to see on the Whirligigs page? Let us know! Send your suggestion to starnews@boreal.org.
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