This list of activities is fairly versatile. If you have the funds, give out Animal Inn pins to the class as a reward for good learning. Appoint them "Guardians of the Ground" or "Wildlife Tree Wardens' or some such thing. You could also give them gummy worms (and other kinds of gummy critters) as rewards.

Play a tape with critter sounds (birds, frogs, wolves, etc). Let the kids guess what it is. You can also use the bingo game here or combine the two, using the sounds as one of the clues. In time we will have a tape available. Or you could record sounds during your work in the woods.

You can borrow, buy or make a Sally/Sam Snag. Call your local Forest Service office for information on borrowing a costume.  Download the script (click here). Have someone come with you to the class and you can introduce Sally after playing some of the other games.  Or a visit from Frank & Francis Fish... or Smokey Bear... Have a party!

Ecosystem Charades:

Split the class into teams (2 or 3). Bring with you a number of cards with critters, plants, elements of an ecosystem. Have the kids number off within each group. You give 2. kids from the first group one of the cards (or whisper in their ears). They have to act out the critter, plant, element for their other team mates to guess. If the team can't guess after 15 seconds (or so) then the other teams get a chance. Rotate between the teams and team members. This can also be played as "Password", "Pictionary", or "Win, Lose or Draw". Or each kid can individually (or with partner) act out the card for the class to guess as a whole.

Build a Forest:

This one takes a little practice. Create critters, plants of an ecosystem through the art of origami. There are several good books with critters, such as You could also make the critters yourself and use them for awards. Or build a "flat" forest by drawing or cutting/pasting all the parts needed to make a forest function.

Species/Ecosystem Boxes:

Your Forest may already have one. If not, you can build one by collecting things when you are out in the field. Be sure to get a permit from the Fish & Wildlife. Service to collect animal parts, even feathers! Collect them in a huge plastic tote container (Rubbermaid, Tupperware, etc). Kmart, Shopko, etc carry them. "Project Learning Tree," has something like this. It is a State run program so contact your State Forester.

Collect stuffed animals or puppets (if your co-workers have kids you may be able to do this on the cheap, or if you have access to Sally Snag you can use her "friends"), and have the kids use them to write and act a story of the forest. You could set up the bones of the story and let them build on it. You could also have them draw critters on paper plates and glue tongue depressors on the back for handles. Or cut pictures out of magazines and glue them onto paper. If you are really in the mood, get a refrigerator box and draw on it a forest backdrop or front drop for the play. Or paint it on canvas making sleeves on the edges so you can slide PVC pipe through; connect the PVC pipe to create a light weight frame for the play stage (kind of like an old time lemonade stand).

Coloring book & Goodie bags:

Pull together simple "goodie bags" with coloring books, gummy critters, Smokey bear pencils, cool looking rocks, etc. You can down load a coloring book at the EPA website (www.epa.gov) in their kids section. Or contact the Forest Service Region 6 Fisheries Staff for copies of their Frank & Francis coloring book. Also check out the WO Forest Service Wildlife, Fish & Rare Plants site for other possible coloring book options.

Gourd masks:

This requires medium to large sized gourds. Or it can be done with paper. Cut dried and clean gourds to make masks resembling the faces of creatures in the woods. For detailed information: The Complete Book of Nature Crafts by Eric Carlson et al. pg. 141. ISBN: 0-87596-141-X; Rodale Press.

Web of Life:

This is borrowed from the Wenatchee Salmon Festival. And a marvelous festival it is! Attend it if you can and you will be awed and inspired! They even have a videotape (from FWS, their partner) on how to do your own festival. Anyhow, the web of life. Got some creative volunteers? Or seamstress' looking for a challenge. Create simple cape costumes (rip stop nylon works well and is durable) of elements, animals and plants involved in the web of life. Dress up the kids. Parade them down the hall and outside. Then talk the kids through (asking them questions so they are thinking ...) who is connected to who. Use a rope or string to link them all together. Obviously building a web with the string and driving home the message that everything is connected together. Possible costumes (raid the sales racks after Halloween!): Sun, water, frog, flower, bird, mushroom, eagle, fish, mosquito, owl, beaver, bat, mouse.

Although an ancient Japanese art, the Salmon Festival adapted it to teach kids fish anatomy and function. As the kids paint the fish (gutted and stuffed with paper to keep the body plump and robust) with non-toxic acrylic, the helpers (you & your pals) talk about all the body parts they are painting. Give the kids an illustrating with labeling to take home with their art. Also give them a plank illustration so the can test themselves when they get home on what they learned from you. Oh yeah, you paint the fish and then roll it on paper (butcher paper works well and is cheap.) You could also use T-shirts. Wash off the fish for another kid to paint or stick it on ice for the kid to take home and eat for dinner!

Story Telling:

A tried and true winner. If possible, bring a tent or big parachute (army/navy surplus store) and drape it over desks. Crawl under it. Create a novel, exciting situation for the story. If you are really lucky, you might be able to borrow (rent?) the huge fish tent that Region 6 (Fisheries staff) uses for its story telling. If you do borrow the fish tent, you might rig up a sound system (use mini speakers from Kmart/Radio Shack maybe) so kids can hear you over the noise of the fan that inflates the fish. Or paint a forest scene on the huge parachute to simulate a deep forest setting.

Compost Bin in a Bottle:

Teach kids about decomposition. Have the kids collect a couple 2-liter pop bottles prior to your arrival (or if you have a source, bring your own supplies). Cut off the top, bunch holes around the bottom for aeration. You can cut the bottom off another bottle and use it as a lid. Shred newspaper into a bowl; add water to paper and moosh in the bowl. Add dirt to the bowl, again, mushing it all together. (Dirt is important as it has micro flora necessary for the worms health and survival.) A damp consistency is what you want. Put a couple handfuls of the dirt/paper mixture into the bottle. Add in some red worms (4 or so will do). Add a couple more handfuls of dirt/paper. Then put some kitchen scraps (no meat) on top. Put the lid on. Kind of a functional adaptation of the classical ant farm. (Seen on Discovery Channel, "Lynette Jennings Home Smart").

Working Worms:

This idea was developed by the Utah Association of Conservation Districts (Logan Utah Office). Simple yet elegant. They built a narrow rectangular box out of Plexiglas with 2 small compartments on the ends for frozen blue ice packs (to keep worms cool if you are in the hot sun). It was about 4" wide by 12" long by 12" tall. Keep it narrow so the worms will make their tunnels next to the Plexiglas -- not in the center out of sight. Filled it with soil and worms (putting kitchen scraps on the top). Pea seeds are planted next to the edges of the Plexiglas. Over time you can see the roots interfacing with the soil (and see root hairs). Kids can also see the worm tunnels and castings. It was transported in an old sewing machine carrying case. Combine this with the "Compost Bin the a Bottle" project. You could also bring in a big worm composting bin to illustrate how kids could expand their worm farm.

Paint a river cross section on a bed sheet size of canvas. Include riverbanks, trees, bushes, large woody debris, rocks, gravel, etc. Then cut little flaps in the canvas with little pouches on the backside of the flap. You will put critters (rubber or stuffed or photos) in the pouches. You give your presentation on all that live in the river dressed as an angler (or a bear foraging on salmon?). You can have an assistant behind the screen handing critters through the flaps. Let kids pull things from "the river". Its kind of like an advent calendar. This was developed by a USFS National Forest -- but the identity is unknown.