Collecting from Nature: A Treaure Box of Specimens

Post Contributed by Jocelyne Adkins, Program Director

The weather couldn't be more perfect and were excited to spend much of our time outdoors this week! Our theme is "Art & Nature" or better put for today's activity: "Nature as Art". This afternoon, we embarked on a short nature walk around the school to collect small items from nature. Students found beautiful pieces of bark; golden sycamore seed pods; cicada exoskeletons and wings; a cardinal's feather; leaves; and more. The one requirement guiding the students' selections, was that it must fit into a small clear container* to create a "collection box" from nature.

 *these wonderful multipurpose boxes were donated to us by the Cleveland family. We used these boxes two weeks ago for our "Unicorn Story Telling Boxes" ~ see post dated September 17th.

Carson with an unusual piece of bark, pierced by a perfect circle

Before we started on our search, we encouraged students to look closely, to find what they might otherwise overlook. We explained that the items they found were to be appreciated and treasured, kept safely in their boxes as a reminder of the beauty of nature and of the season. The items could be rearranged and also changed with further collecting, as the seasons change. 

Dexter, Ethan and Theo discover a very large grasshopper, the victim in a spider's web

the very large grasshopper

searching for treasures from nature

Joey with sycamore bark

Ethan's box with chestnut pod and leaves

Theo, preparing to create his collection box

Cassie with sycamore seed pods and leaves

Jordan

completed collection box with cicada exoskeleton, bark and leaves

Theo's box with cicada exoskeletons, chestnut pod and leaves

Yinka's collection box with leaves and blossoms

sycamore seed pods and leaves

Talib's completed collection box with chestnut pod, sycamore pod and leaves

Xantal's collection box with leaves, bark and sycamore seed pod

Leila's box with leaves and twigs

Carson's box: on the upper right, the sycamore seed pod is opened, with fluffy seeds spilling out : )

several bunnies were surprised by our group ~ you can see 2 of them here.

It is our hope that these boxes have inspired the beginning of some dedicated nature collection walks throughout the year ~ and not just with us, but with family and friends, whenever we need a lift in our spirit that comes through a connection to nature!