Have kids stand up and get ready to live the life of a tree. Closing their eyes, they decide what kind of tree they are (pine, maple, apple, imaginary). Play music (without words) to give added ambiance (Vivaldi's four seasons?). Take kids through the life of a tree from seed germination to decomposition--maybe have the tree fall in a river and roll to the sea if you have the time. Include a trip through the 4 seasons. A shorter version would be to just take them through the 4 seasons. Tell them to act out the story as you go. You act it out with them, every now-and-then maybe spicing it up with squirts of water from a spray bottle to simulate rain, turn on a fan for the wind storm, hit a piece of sheet metal for the lightning, etc. This is adapted from A Day In the Forest; A Nature Adventure by Joseph Cornell.

Possible script:

OK kids, get out of your chairs and squat down with your arms around your knees. You are a seed nestled in the ground. You begin to absorb moisture and break open your seed coat, pushing out your tap root deep into the soil and your stem up and out into the warm spring air. You pull energy from your endosperm food reserve in the seed, helping you grow. You are putting out leaves in the sunshine and root hairs in the moist rich soil; soon you are making your own food and growing strong.

Years pass.

Feel your large tap root growing down into the ground, going past rocks. Worms send out lateral roots 4 feet, 8 feet, 15 feet, 20 feet - out past your canopy; feel the soil surrounding your roots (wiggle your toes in the soil).

There is as much of you growing in the soil as above.

You have a large trunk that is big and round.

As you follow your trunk up you have multiple big branches coming off the trunk.

Follow the branches to the tippy top into the sky.

In the early spring you made flowers for the bees to pollinate. Now they have matured into into seeds dangling from your delicate branches.

Can you see your leaves? Can you see them flutter in the wind? (Wave your arms in the air and wiggle your fingers)

Your leaves are gathering sunlight and transforming it into food. Feel the leaves send the food through the branches to your trunk; on down into the roots--helping you build cells, layer by layer, making you bigger and bigger. Energy from the leaves "flows" from the top of the tree to the bottom roots through the phloem cells. Feel your roots sucking up water and nutrients into the root hairs, passing it on from cell to cell on up the root system, into the trunk, then branches, and finally transpiring out the leaves. Water and nutrients travel up the from the roots to the top leaves on the tree through the xylem cells. Both your phloem and xylem are tucked under your bark running past each other in opposite directions.

Autumn comes, days get shorter and cooler. This causes food production to get slower and slower. The juicy sap in your trunk and branches get thicker and thicker. Your leaves start turning golden yellow, pumpkin orange or flaming red. You are a sight to behold in the afternoon sun. One by one the leaves start to detach and waft to the ground. A light breeze plucks the seeds from your branches sending them whirling through the air landing far away, to one day germinate and grow a big strong tree just like you.

Clouds start to collect in the sky carried by blustery winds. Drops of rain begin to hit your leaves--plink, plink, plink .... slowly increasing in ferocity until the rush of rain pulls your leaves from your branches and they fall to the ground. The storm passes and the ground is carpeted in golden, orange, and red leaves. Soon the leaves turn brown and crumble into the ground as winter descends--covering the ground with snow. You stand stark and strong in the cold stormy nights as the wind blows your branches front and back, left and right - swaying through the day and night. You have conserved energy by shutting everything down so that only 1% of your body is functioning; you are very sleepy and things are very calm. But you have laid down your buds for new growth last summer and fall in preparation for the coming spring. Winter passes and you dream of warmer days as the snow and ice swirl around you. A big snow storm comes and piles heavy, wet snow on your branches, weighing you down. One of your branches, weak with age, can't support the weight of the snow and breaks, toppling to the ground, into the snow. Eventually you begin to feel the warm rays of spring awaken you from your slumber. You soak up the energy and your sap starts thinning and moving faster. Your buds burst forth, sending out new branches, flowers and leaves. You are fully awake--that 99% which slept through the winter has come back to life. Spring turns to summer and the days grow longer and warmer. A thunderstorm tears across the sky...suddenly a thunderbolt flashes through the sky, striking your trunk and blowing off parts of your bark, exposing your wood. Ouch! That hurt! Over the summer you build callous and heal your wound, but you are left with a scar.

More Years pass.

The wounds you have suffered over the years have become infected. Beetles, ants, fungus and microbes have made themselves at home with you. A cavity has formed where one of your branches grew, many winters ago. Now it is home to a family of squirrels. People walk by, remarking what a wonderful snag you are, providing food and shelter to so many creatures. Year by year you lose a few more branches, leaving just your trunk. One day a bear wanders by and you catch her attention. In the blink of an eye, she is climbing up your trunk and crawling inside you! Digging with her massive claws, she creates a snug little den for long winter nap (also known as hibernation).

And even more years pass.

You have fallen over, and now people walk by, remarking what an interesting log you are. You have seedlings from your neighboring trees growing on you, tickling you with their itty bitty tap roots as they grow through your decomposed wood. You are providing them with a safe and healthy place to live. Slugs, worms, beetles and mice also call you home. A skunk family just moved in to the end of your log. You feel your self yourself sinking slowly into the welcoming earth, adding your nutrients, and fiber to its composition. With a sigh you look forward to your rebirth through the young new trees in the cycle of life. All animals, big and small, have needed you for food, nutrients, or shelter. You have given to the world very unselfishly.

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