Reuniting Children with Nature - Habitat Building

MATERIALS:
Natural materials: sticks, blades of grass, leaves, rocks, sea shells, flowers, pieces of bark or wood chips…
Optional materials:  colorful clay

TIME FRAME:
15 - 60 minutes

PROCEDURE:

• Decide what kind of creature you would like to create your mini-habitat for.  Think about your favorite animal, where they live and what they would need to survive.  
• Gather any materials that will help you create your chosen habitat.  Think about how you can interpret what is needed by animals into a smaller version of that habitat.
• The clay can be used to hold your items together, and it can also be used to represent different aspects of your habitat (the blue could be used to represent water, the yellow to represent the sun…)

REFLECTION: 
How did you decide on which habitat to re-create?  How is the habitat you created different from your own                 habitat?  How is it the same?

CONNECTIONS: 
Think about your local zoo or aquarium... How do you think they decide what to include in their habitats?  Do they provide everything the inhabitants need to be healthy and happy?  What could be different about their habitats?

TIDBITS:
Habitats fall into six general categories: grasslands, oceans, wetlands, arctic tundra, forests, and deserts.  It is estimated that there could be 5 million to 100 million species on the planet, but science has only identified about 2 million of them.

TIPS & IMAGININGS:
Recycle an Altoids tin or an old shoe box to create your habitat in.  While creating your habitat, think about what all living beings need to survive:  shelter, food and water.  Remember, while humans need clothing to protect our bodies, wild creatures do not.

This activity is part of a series of low cost, hands on activities that can be used by anyone who has a passion for nature and who believes that a child's time spent in nature is not only important, but necessary.  Each activity was either created by me or gathered from a variety of sources.  You can find the complete list of all of the activities on my Nature Activities tab.

xoxo,
M