Animals play a salient role in the development of connecting youth to an understanding of the environment. Students not only find an inherent empathy with animals, they have a curiosity and connection through them.
Activities:
Tracks:
Find tracks outside. Using frames/hula hoops identify some tracks and use these track guides to identify who the tracks might belong too- Div I, Div II.
Guided Imagery Tasks: Pretending to be an animal, or plant.
This activity can be adapted to build empathy with any living thing. Be sure that the story you tell is rich with smells, sounds, sights, textures and feelings. The more familiar you are with the text of the imagery, the more successful this activity will be.
Animal Perspectives:
Assess an outdoor space based on the perspective of an animal. What in that space could be troubles (barriers) or treasure (asset). Students can make a "treasure map" of the outdoor space to show what they have found.
Activities:
Tracks:
Find tracks outside. Using frames/hula hoops identify some tracks and use these track guides to identify who the tracks might belong too- Div I, Div II.
Guided Imagery Tasks: Pretending to be an animal, or plant.
This activity can be adapted to build empathy with any living thing. Be sure that the story you tell is rich with smells, sounds, sights, textures and feelings. The more familiar you are with the text of the imagery, the more successful this activity will be.
Animal Perspectives:
Assess an outdoor space based on the perspective of an animal. What in that space could be troubles (barriers) or treasure (asset). Students can make a "treasure map" of the outdoor space to show what they have found.