Habitat Manor (Week 3)

Cooking mac & cheese in the homestead

It was bittersweet for all of us today as our last day together in Manteo. We were challenged throughout the week and the overall product ended spectacularly!

In the Habitat Manor the children first explored an open home complete with a table set, books, and windows through makeshift wallpaper from tablecloths. Carly (later named "Mom") welcomed them in followed by Will who came upon them exclaiming, "I see you have found my home!" The kids jumped into exploration of the rest of the path just a few minutes into the half hour slot. They crossed the path to a half dome beaver dam with a seashell entrance. In front of them pointing to the right read a sign that warned, "Danger!" Some were hesitant, others dared onward. Not far down the path they came across Courtney, a worried and lost bird watcher who claimed she had been lost for 2 days after being frightened from a mysterious growl. The children immediately guided her back to their home, where spaghetti (pine needles and leaves) and water (an empty mug) were provided for her care.

Some remained to take care of the lost birder, while Carly and Will helped them search for the unknown creature, later to be determined a bear. The second group was especially creative and excited, continuously racing up and down the trail running from bears and seeking refuge in the homestead. We all made loud noises to ward off the bear (played by the 4-H caretaker ). When the bear threatened to attack again some children hid the birder under a tarp and others bravely went to fight. The play continued with massive amounts of energy and it was hard to move the children on to the next pocket.

Hideaway Cove

Turtles exploring Hideaway Cove

Upon first arrival to Hideaway Cove, this particular group of girls were seemingly uninterested in the beach environment we had created for their play habitat. Lining up side by side, they stared at us, hoping for some sort of prompting regarding their actions within this strange place. Giving in, we decided to introduce them to the numerous bird nests around the island, which afforded them the opportunity to notice the brightly colored, large eggs found within each nest. This was clearly something that excited the girls, and one by one they decided to collect all the eggs found in and around the Cove. When they had collected them all, and piled them in the central area, one of the girls noted that the momma birds would not be happy to see their eggs missing! Hearing this, the girls decided that putting the baby bird eggs back in their nests would make momma bird happy, as she could then have baby birds to raise and care for when they hatched.

Collections of treasure are brought to the center of Hideaway Cove

This was a poignant moment for our play exercise, because it showed us that children already have the concepts of conservation and protection of wildlife in their imaginations. This is important because it shows us that we created an effective environment that fostered imagination as well as interaction and conservation within the setting of the coastal environment, which closely matches the goals set forth by the US Fish and Wildlife Service.

Terry Welles, Kara Oikarinen, Katie Johnson

The Enchanted Forest: From the Trees

Today was our second prototyping experience with children.  Our play pocket encompassed an "Enchanted Forest," containing very old talking trees!  We placed our pocket in a clearing containing several dogwoods-- the largest we've ever seen!  The space was naturally magical already, so we did little work to it besides clear low brush and thorny vines, and remove Poison Ivy.

When the visitors met Will and Assir (some of the talking trees) they interpreted the voice of  his tree stump friend: his birthday was today!  They sang happy birthday and even counted the rings to see how old he was!

Assir and our friend reading a sign pointing them down another trail.  It says HELP!

The children met Mother Tree (a HUGE 4-trunked dogwood, and Molly), who told them the little known fact that trees actually need children to play with them to live!  They also found a swing!

The talking trees: Will, Molly, and Assir

Sound Island

*Clink* *Clank* *Ring* *Tap* *Crunch* *Howl* *Growl*

Some of our "animals" that inhabited the island :)

Sounds of the forest that resonated though our play habitat, Sound Island, this week. We set our stage with a multitude of "instruments" - a harp: fishing line strung up in between two trees; Castanets: shells clapped together; Wind chimes: silverware found along the beach strung up from a tree; Drums: old containers; Maracas: Tupperware containers filled with sand, sea glass, and sticks; Drumsticks: sticks and silver ware; Guiro: carved notches into a tree branch; Ocean collage chimes: part of a crab buoy, shells, and sea glass strung up on a piece of drift wood. So many things to create our animal orchestra!!

Ocean Collage Chimes :)

But an animal orchestra needs an animal choir to accompany it! We encouraged the kids to use their voices and anythings else they could find in the woods in addition to the "instruments". They howled and growled and on occasion, we heard howls back! The kids were in awe!! To help the kids envelop their new animal persona, we painted out faces like animals!

The kids loved it! They even were inspired to become artists themselves and painted our faces too!

Then some treasure hunters discovered our island! They were searching for treasure that a note they found on the Hidden Cove said would be with the wolves (indicating our island). We had no gold, be we did have the treasure of music that we were more than happy to share with them!

Kaitlyn and Debi after face painting :)

-Kaitlyn, Debi, Carly

The Great Fire Escape

The scene was set: The fire at Alligator River has resulted in the mass movement of animals from their homes to a new area of refuge. But how would these animals survive? Sure, there is plenty of food and water available, however, the animals lacked homes in which they could thrive. It was up to our nature helpers to build new homes for the animals that had been displaced or become the animal travelers themselves.

Building new habitats

The initial group of children with whom we nature-played were between the ages of 5 and 8. They quickly took to the idea of the movement of animals and were inspired by the natural elements within the context of the play pocket. The children moved small, fallen branches in order to build forts and swung from tree limbs. They took on the roles of animals that might thrive in the environment and were willing to build new homes for the homeless animals. A few children travelled down a path within the confines of the play pocket and discovered a “pond” in which lily pads floated and “frog” children hopped. Instead of designing a new home for the animals that had been displaced, a number of children saw it fit to dig through a decomposing tree and discovered a world of insects that lived below.

Discovering what lives in the pretend "pond"

The forest was alive and the children were immersed in its beauty.

Will Ericson, Kara Oikarinen, Stephanie Rustem