Getting Up-Close and Personal with the Natural World

The following activities will guide you and your preschooler in discovering more about the world around you.

Animal Tracks

Next time you find some animal tracks in the mud or sand, here's a way to bring them home with you! Cut a strip of poster board about 2" wide and 12" long. Make a ring and seal it with tape. Next, smear the inside with Vaseline. Place the ring around a deep, clear animal track, pressing the ring gently into the ground. Make sure that the track is near its centre. Mix plaster-of-Paris as per the directions and pour it into the circle, covering the track and surrounding ground. Let it harden. When it's ready, bring the cast home and go online to identify it. The cast also makes a great keepsake!

Pitfall Traps

Get up-close and personal with the bugs in your backyard! Use a glass jar with a wide mouth and bury it in your garden so that the opening is flush with the ground. Place a small piece of fruit in the jar. Leave the trap for a few hours, but check often to see if you've caught anything. While waiting, make air holes for the jar by poking holes in its lid.  When you've caught something, secure the lid to the jar. Bring the jar inside and have your child observe the critters and draw pictures of what they see. Don't forget to free your bugs as soon as possible.

By Rochelle Strauss