Earth Day with WEN was a busy day. We had staff at MUD's huge annual celebration as well as a smaller event at Highlander Brewery. I elected to lead bug exploration and rock painting at Highlander.
Highlander has a perfect set-up for WEN to host activities, as Grant Creek runs along the edge of the property, accessible from the outdoor patio space. I got to collect the bugs while Deb and some other volunteers set up the tables. The creek was shallow, but signs posted along the creek warn people to stay out. Currents can be deceiving.
The kids that were running around the grass became interested in me as soon as they saw me in the water with a net. I shuffled my feet around on a flat patch to reduce the number of times I kicked rocks. Deb also reminded me that stoneflies like to live in the more oxygenated parts, so I collected some from the tiny rapids as well. When our second tub for bugs arrived, I convinced a one-time volunteer who was visiting to collect some bugs too. I passed off the waders and net and instructed him to stand facing downstream, so the water automatically pushes all the stirred up macroinvertebrates and dirt into the net. For a newbie, he had quite a robust sample of bugs in the tub for the kids!
Kids swarmed the bug tub as soon as I carried it up from the creek and set it on a bench. We even had some parents and older siblings interested! To them I pointed out the differences in gill locations between stoneflies and mayflies, and that these locations influence how each insect swims. We even had a serendipitous moment where a mayfly started to emerge! Deb told the kids what was happening and let them decide what to do to help it along.
I love rock painting, and chose this art activity for Earth Day since WEN hasn't had a rock painting day in a while. I painted a stonefly and a colorful caddisfly case to go with the dragonfly I painted with WEN several years ago. The kids loved this activity too, with several painting more than one rock. We just about ran out of our supply of rocks! I helped the kids write their names on the bottoms of their rocks before they started painting. We had a couple little ones, and two of them held up three fingers when I asked their names.
"Your name is three?" I checked, and they nodded. "Are you sure?" The kids were very sure, so the parents had to step in to tell me their kid's name. They must have been more used to people asking how old they were!
Later on while many of the kids returned to their running around the yard, a girl led me to a bug on rock. She asked if the bugs we showed them live in the water. This was a great opportunity to explain that they live in the water while they are young, and when they are older they have wings and live in the air, like the injured bug she found.
Since I had to take my shoes off to wear the waders in the creek, and I was wearing flip-flops, I took the chance to walk around barefoot as long as the sun was out. Being barefoot helps me feel connected to the Earth, as there is no physical barrier separating me from the ground. The weather was gorgeous, and I felt like I was one of the kids. Even when the weather got shady and I had to put extra layers on, a new set of kids came by to ask if we would still have out bugs and paint out when they were done eating dinner. Having elements of earth (rocks), water (Grant Creek), and life (aquatic macroinvertebrates) available for the kids to explore embodies what Earth Day is all about - respecting the Earth, its ecosystems, and the life that lives on it as well as appreciating it in our own creative human way. This was a fun activity for the volunteers and the patrons of Highlander alike. I look forward to planning an event like this again!
-Cassie Sevigny
AmeriCorps Team Member
Media Coordinator
Highlander has a perfect set-up for WEN to host activities, as Grant Creek runs along the edge of the property, accessible from the outdoor patio space. I got to collect the bugs while Deb and some other volunteers set up the tables. The creek was shallow, but signs posted along the creek warn people to stay out. Currents can be deceiving.
The kids that were running around the grass became interested in me as soon as they saw me in the water with a net. I shuffled my feet around on a flat patch to reduce the number of times I kicked rocks. Deb also reminded me that stoneflies like to live in the more oxygenated parts, so I collected some from the tiny rapids as well. When our second tub for bugs arrived, I convinced a one-time volunteer who was visiting to collect some bugs too. I passed off the waders and net and instructed him to stand facing downstream, so the water automatically pushes all the stirred up macroinvertebrates and dirt into the net. For a newbie, he had quite a robust sample of bugs in the tub for the kids!
Kids swarmed the bug tub as soon as I carried it up from the creek and set it on a bench. We even had some parents and older siblings interested! To them I pointed out the differences in gill locations between stoneflies and mayflies, and that these locations influence how each insect swims. We even had a serendipitous moment where a mayfly started to emerge! Deb told the kids what was happening and let them decide what to do to help it along.
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| Cassie's stonefly |
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| Rocks drying under the table |
"Your name is three?" I checked, and they nodded. "Are you sure?" The kids were very sure, so the parents had to step in to tell me their kid's name. They must have been more used to people asking how old they were!
Later on while many of the kids returned to their running around the yard, a girl led me to a bug on rock. She asked if the bugs we showed them live in the water. This was a great opportunity to explain that they live in the water while they are young, and when they are older they have wings and live in the air, like the injured bug she found.
Since I had to take my shoes off to wear the waders in the creek, and I was wearing flip-flops, I took the chance to walk around barefoot as long as the sun was out. Being barefoot helps me feel connected to the Earth, as there is no physical barrier separating me from the ground. The weather was gorgeous, and I felt like I was one of the kids. Even when the weather got shady and I had to put extra layers on, a new set of kids came by to ask if we would still have out bugs and paint out when they were done eating dinner. Having elements of earth (rocks), water (Grant Creek), and life (aquatic macroinvertebrates) available for the kids to explore embodies what Earth Day is all about - respecting the Earth, its ecosystems, and the life that lives on it as well as appreciating it in our own creative human way. This was a fun activity for the volunteers and the patrons of Highlander alike. I look forward to planning an event like this again!
-Cassie Sevigny
AmeriCorps Team Member
Media Coordinator
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