Day 39: pond netting

I am back home now after 36 hours with 13 boy scouts!  YIKES!  It was a certainly a challenge but also a lot of fun. We did a TON of stuff so that they could earn four badges in two days. Craziness.  One of the things that we did was pond netting.  So since I had that on my brain today I decided why not try it again in a better spot with Sam.

Possibly one of my most successful green activities yet. 

Sam was captivated and before I knew it almost an hour had gone by!!  We went to a nearby pond with our net, jar and magnifying glasses. I think one of the reasons that it worked so well is because I really stayed hands off and just let her do what she wanted with the net and the water.  Only when she asked me to help or to take a turn did I step up. 

Had to include this picture because it is SO my daughter right now; walking at her own pace, singing the ABCs and just looking off into space.   

I even decided that if she got too close to the water I wouldn't step in but just let her go and see what happened.  Is it really that big of a deal if she falls in?  Don't worry the water was only like six inches deep!
 

We caught lots of snails, a few scuds but this guy was the one that sold the experience for both of us!

A very big dragonfly nymph!   Sam loved it the second that she saw it and without my coaching her asked if she could hold it.  I believe her exact words were "Mommy, he wants to sit in my hand!"  She wasn't scared at all and when she was done she put him back in the water.  I was a proud momma. 

The reason I think this was such a success is because 1) she stayed engaged for a very long time, 2) she was really able to do it all on her own (she even caught things all on her own!), 3) she seemed interested in hearing about what she was catching and wanted to learn. 

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The Nitty Gritty!

There is no age range for this activity. I have done it with children Sam's age and with full grown adults.  The idea is always the same, stick a net in and see what you get, it is just the level of learning and understanding that changes. 

At Sam's age the focus is just on them discovering that there are teeny tiny things living in the water and mud.  It is great for them to get their hands dirty, see some new and interesting critters and get to interact in a new way with water.  For older kids you can focus more on what they are catching; where in the pond they catch the most, what those things look like, how they move, etc.  If you want to expand the activity even further here is a great site that had listings of some of the most common water critters.  Check out EEK!  It is run by the WI Department of Natural Resources and has great pictures, information and activities. 

Oh yeah....and thanks for the comment love for my first guest blogger!! 

Comments

[Angela]

Oh my you have loads of energy! Pond netting is awesome. We have a few but haven't actually hit the ponds with them. The kids have mostly been finding things in the kiddie pool. Fun but a little scary too. You wouldn't believe the things that land in kiddie pools over the course of the day.

The photo of Sam singing and walking is a delight. She is having so much fun!

[gina]

I wish we had a pond nearby. I bet we do...I need to do a little research!!

[Lindsay @ Bytes of Memory]

oo what fun! I will have to try and find a little pond like this near us!

[Elissa]

I love this. The part I love about working in the backyard is finding the bugs to show the kids! I had a guy come out with snakes and bugs to my daughters school for her 5th birthday. The girls held everything and the boys were very standoffish. I mentioned this to the man and he said that at the preschool age the girls are less scared than the boys but once they get to grade school it does a flip. Kinda makes you wonder.