Last week Max and Rebecca got to go on a field trip to Pocahontas State Park and I got to tag along. The whole first grade piled into buses along with a bunch of parents for a little exposure to the great outdoors.
At the park we divvied up into three groups, two classes per group (and yes that means there are six first grade classes in their school). Our group got to go to the playground first, which I thought was a very good thing. The kids could run around a bit after the bus ride and would in all likelihood be better able to concentrate on the rest of the activities.
When playtime was over we trooped back to bus and collect our lunchboxes and bring them to our assigned shelter. There was a bit of whining about being hungry, but that was quickly squashed by the teachers it wasn't even close to lunchtime.
Instead we got to go on a scavenger hunt.
This one was clearly geared for first graders. They had to find objects in nature that could fall into any one or more of eight different categories: dead, alive, brown, shiny, rough, smooth, big, and little. Max's teacher wanted them to find three for each category and it was perfectly acceptable for something to be in more than one category.
The kids had a good time tromping about in the woods and only needed a little help. Shiny was by far the hardest one to fine. Max and I settled on a wet leaf, rocks (there was a fair amount of mica about glittering in the sun) and sunshine.
Finally it was lunchtime. The kids were just finishing up when a park ranger appeared with a few animals in tow. We got to meet Larry the box turtle, Ruby the hog nosed snake, and Lemony the snake. There were too many of us to touch the animals, but we did get a good look.
Max loved the turtle. Turtles are his favorite animal and it was a real treat for him to see one. He was so stuck by the experience that he drew a turtle right after he got home from school. He put a lot of love and effort into his creation and it shows.
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