VARMINTS

I was asked to be one of the teaching leaders {paid!} at a 2-week church camp downtown. My themes include environmental stewardship and community development. It is fairly new to the program this year as they are trying to integrate a "green" component into the camp curriculum. My first of three sessions was this past Monday. I had the younger children and we read "VARMINTS" {by Helen Ward and Illustrated by Marc Craste}. I love this book! It reminds me a lot of movie "Wall-E", for reference.

After a brief story discussion, I led them on a 2-MILE! "urban nature hike" from the cathedral campus to the zoo. The story is fairly brief but Ward breaks it into three sections. The second chapter has a bit about "...little pieces of wilderness." THIS was the theme of our trek. Myself, along with my two adult volunteers, led the children around the city... across city intersections... along residential streets... through bits of Lincoln Park... attempting to stay hydrated... and exploring this concept of "little pieces of wilderness." I asked the children to find examples along our walk.
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I recently learned that "VARMINTS" has been made into a 24 minute film. You can watch the trailer here.