I first asked the girls if they knew there is a river close to them and they said no! So the first thing we learned simply was the name of the river. I showed them where the River was from where we were holding the meeting and then we talked about where it starts and where it ends.  It was the first time they had heard of the river flowing to the sea which was so special!  We also talked about the water cycle and the place of the river in the water cycle.  I wanted them to know the Santa Clara RIver is special with lots of plants and wildlife so I brought some plant species to show, touch and smell.  The kids learned that lots of plants that are native to the river and important to wildlife.  I also brought a big root of  arundo donax so they could understand how non-natives are very tough and take over the environment from native plants.  At first they thought the arundo root was a tree branch!  The learned how it grows fast and far and stops other plants growing which is why we take it out so we can plant all the other native river plants. 

 

For this age I decided we would make an ecosystem web.  To make an ecosystem web you sit in a circle and pass a ball of wool around and back and forth forming a web. Each person becomes part of the ecosystem such as the sun or an insect.  Another fun age appropriate activity we did was to become a rain storm by clapping slow and softly and then fast and loud back to slow and quiet. To give a real River lesson, I brought some small native plants to smell, such as sage and yerba santa, and looked at different leaf and plant shapes.  I brought a small willow seedling and sapling and explained how it grows to be as tall as the room!  The kids learned how to take branch cuttings to grow roots or to collect seeds to plant and I explained why we do this to help the river become healthy again. We also made a collage of the river showing, trees and birds and people. 

 

 

At the start of the night, the kids did not know there was a river in their town! But by the end they were really interested in the different seeds and trees, like blackberries and walnuts, and all the ways people and animals might use them. They were really interested in the farming fields and that there are people near the river growing food. They liked that the river wildlife and the fields were next to each other! The older girls liked the idea of becoming scientists and the younger Daisies liked hearing about the birds and the animals.

 

At the end we talked about how we can help the environment such as remembering how much energy goes into growing what we eat and getting to the store.  The kids already knew we shouldn't waste food but also decided to make nature healthy choices about packaging - less plastic is good! We thought about how one person is important such as the water saved if we turn off the water while we brush our teeth which saves more for the river!