Discovering Nature

Ryan went on his first field trip last Thursday.  He joined his preschool classmates for a presentation and nature hike at a local nature center.  The tour guide was very animated; all the parents were impressed that she was able to entertain a room full of 3-year-olds for more than 45 minutes, which is no small feat!!

At the beginning of the presentation, she instructed all of the children to designate one finger as their "petting finger" and reminded them to be gentle with the animals.  I was worried that Ryan would be as gentle and delicate with those animals as he is with Guinness!   

The first animal she brought out was a wooly bear caterpillar.  Ryan was able to pet the caterpillar and learned that it would one day turn into a moth.  That was somewhat confusing for the kids since they are familiar with the story, "The Hungry Caterpillar," where the caterpillar morphs into a beautiful butterfly.  The tour guide described the moth as a nighttime butterfly, which seemed to appease their curious, inquisitive little minds.  Next, she introduced a toad and a turtle.  She fed each animal a handful of meal worms.  Ryan was fascinated, especially when he discovered that toads' eyes retract into their heads whenever they swallow.

When she brought out the white pillow case holding the  large, squirming black rat snake, the parents in the room collectively groaned while many of the kids giggled nervously and squealed in delight.  Before the trip, Ryan insisted that he was NOT going to pet the snake and declared that we were going to watch the demonstration from the back of the room - fine by me!  But, after seeing all of his classmates touch the snake, he cautiously lifted his "petting finger" and quickly petted the snake.  He later informed me that he was surprised to find the snake was dry and warm, not cold and slimy as he had expected. 

Can you imagine if Mike had been the one to accompany Ryan on his field trip?!  We all know how Mike feels about snakes.  He probably would have embarassed Ryan by shrieking like a girl and jumping up on the nearest chair!  (Sorry the snake pictures didn't turn out too well.  As it got closer to Ryan's turn to pet the snake, my heart began to pound, my palms began to sweat, and I readied myself in case I needed to sprint across the room to save Ryan from the attacking reptile!) 

Once all of the animals had been put away, we took a short hike through the woods surrounding the nature center.  The trail took us past a pond where the children stopped to look for turtles and fish, over rocks, past trees that had recently been chewed down by beavers, and through a big grassy clearing where the children were encouraged to run off their energy.  Although the color of the leaves were particularly vibrant this Fall, the leaves had unfortunately passed their peak by the time of our hike.  Despite the drab surroundings, I learned that there is nothing more beautiful than witnessing a child's sense of wonder as he discovers nature and nothing more heartwarming than walking hand-in-hand through the forest with Ryan!