Establishing Guidelines for Behavior
Scroll down a ways on the “Logistics” page to review some of the rules for group walks at Audubon. When children know what is expected up front, inappropriate behavior can be avoided. Sometimes at Day Camp we also introduce 3-way respect: Self-Others-Planet. Respect for Self means act in a way that makes you feel proud. Respect for Others means treat your classmates and adult supervisors politely, the way you would like to be treated. Repect for the Planet means to treat the world in such a way that all living things have a safe place to live.
The Circle
Standing in a circle makes it easy to make eye contact with each and every member of your group, and to share things you might want everyone to see.
- Forming the Circle: We have lots of ways to form a circle. Children are generally familiar with the hold hands method, so we try to mix it up a little and use other goofy methods. For example: “Everybody reach up into the sky and grab a piece of magic velcro and put it on your elbow. Reach up and grab another piece of magic velcro and put it on the other elbow. Now, velcro your elbow to another person’s elbow until we have a big circle of people whose elbows are velcroed together!“ Once you have your circle in place you can say, “Great! Now, on the count of three, I want everyone to stay in the circle, but make that great velcro un-hooking noise and stand straight up!“Later in the walk when you want to form another circle, you could have the children move the velcro from their elbows to their knees and hook their knees together… Next time, they could put it on the tips of their toes… etc. At the end of the walk, I often have the children throw the magic velcro back up into the sky.Older kids are not amused by this. Neither do they like to hold hands. But the Thumbs-Up Circle usually works for them: “Everybody put your thumbs up. Now, attach your thumb to another person’s thumb until we have a circle of people. Great! This is what I call the Thumbs-Up Circle. As we walk along, if we find something we need to share, or if I have instructions to give, you might hear me say, ‘Thumbs up, everyone!’ That means, get into a circle.“
- Be Aware of the Sun: When you are getting ready to form your circle, stand so that the sun will be in your eyes, not in the eyes of your children. Think about it! They are not going to want to look at you while you are talking if the sun is behind you and shining directly into their eyes!
Sharing Important Finds
- Circle: If you find something cool that can be picked up and want to share it with the whole group, you may want to form a circle so that you can pass it around.
- Mob: Circles aren’t always the best way to insure that everyone can see something. When checking nest boxes, for example, a mob often works better than a circle. I will stand by the nest box and put my finger at the middle of the door. I ask everyone to stand where they can see my finger. I do not open the door until everyone assures me that they can see my finger.
- Line: If you find something that must be shared but you are on a narrow path making it hard to form a circle, form a line instead. Reassure the children that everyone will get a chance to see it!
- Protecting the Item (Critter): Use a cup or observation jar or bottle to protect the item you want to pass around. If the item is particularly fragile, you may want to carry it around.
- Mirrors: Sometimes the thing to share can’t be picked up or moved. For example, would you like to show your group the inside of a bird nest but you don’t want to lift each person up? Use a mirror to show them what’s in there. This is a great technique for looking at the bottom side of a mushroom without picking it, or seeing what’s inside the hollow of a tree.
Putting Things Back
One of our rules is that no one can take things home… This is hard, especially when you find something really cool like a bone or feather or pinecone. Don’t give in to those longing looks and that plaintive, “Pleeeeze.“ Remind the children that we have thousands of people that come here and they like to find cool things, too. Also remind them that everything in nature gets used by nature… When plants and animals die, other animals may eat them or they decompose and become nutrients in the soil for new plants. It’s part of the circle of life. (Most kids have seen The Lion King and understand the idea of the Circle of Life.)
Some of our Trail Guides have developed clever ways of making the putting-things-back less painful, more fun. For example, in late spring when the geese are moulting, everyone wants to take a feather home. One trail guide explains why they can’t and then has the kids plant a feather garden. Making a ceremony of leaving things here can make it just a little easier.
Walking
Walking can be so much more than just getting from one place to the next. By using ambulatory activities, you can make the walk between destinations a sensory experience in itself and enhance your children’s observation skills.
- Give them a task: “Let’s walk from here to that tree. Along the way, let’s see how many different colors of flowers we can find. Don’t pick them. Just remember them.” When you get to the tree, form a circle and have the kids list the colors. You can adjust this to meet your needs. For example: In fall you could look for leaf shapes – maybe even collect them from the ground. Form a circle, show them, then put them down. In spring, you might try walking as quietly as possible and listen to see how many bird songs you can “gather” between point A and point B.
- Walk like an animal: Play a version of follow the leader and have the kids walk like chipmunks, deer, geese, or fly like a bird, a butterfly, etc…
- Create Anticipation: Tell the kids where you are headed for your next destination. Make it sound really exciting. (You might even have pictures and/or props in your bag that will help you tell your story.) ”Around the corner we will see two nest boxes in a small mowed field. In one of the boxes there is an active nest made of sticks. The mom is a small, brown bird called a House Wren. She is taking care of some tiny speckled eggs that look like little candy-covered chocolate Easter eggs. If you can be very, very quiet and still, I will be able to open the box and show you one of those eggs.” If you really know the trails and what you can find along them, you can create such anticipation…
Behavior Problems
Luckily, it rarely happens, but I’m not going to lie. Once in a while you get an absolutely uncontrollable group. Neither you nor the adult that came with the children will be able to establish anything more than a mild sense of order. Rest assured. It is not a failure on your part! Do what you can to keep them from killing themselves and others. Take them over to the Pavilion field and let them run off some of their energy by playing a game of tag.
More often, you will have that one mischievous kid in the midst of an otherwise stellar group. Learn that child’s name early. Sometimes turning that child into your assistant gives him/her the attention they need and gets them focused on the activities.
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