Likin’ Lichen

              I wrote earlier about Turtle Time from the Potomac Valley Audubon Society.  Another event we attended was one of their Wee Naturalists classes.  These are monthly classes that are specifically for preschool and kindergarten-aged children.  Much like Turtle Time, many of the other kids were homeschoolers.  I even recognized a couple from the previous week’s Turtle Time event.  Unlike Turtle Time, Wee Naturalists require registration and cost $10 per child.  The event we attended was held in the Yankauer Preserve outside of Shepherdstown.  Like Cool Spring Preserve, it is a patch of land owned and protected by PVAS.  There are a few trails and a small pavilion with some tables for education.

              We attended the Likin’ Lichen (alliteration is always fun) class.  The two instructors brought all the necessary materials up from the nature center at Cool Spring.  The kids learned how lichen is the offspring of algae and fungi before going on a short hike to find lichen on rocks and trees.  Each time the kids found some lichen, we all sang a lichen song the instructors had written.  After the hike, we all returned to the pavilion for arts and crafts.  The kids made “lichen logs” out of toilet paper rolls.  They colored the rolls with markers and glued real bark and pieces of green tissue paper to represent the lichen.  Just like the Turtle Time event, I was impressed by how well it was run.  It was a good time. 

              To make PVAS more inclusive, the Wee Naturalists program will soon offer classes in Spanish as well as English.  The calendar shows the upcoming twice-a-month Wee Naturalists classes.