Longwood Gardens is a beautiful botanical garden not far from my home created by Pierre du Pont in the early 1900’s. When I retired, one of my goals was to volunteer there, and last week I became official, although I still have quite a bit of training and learning to do.
Did you know that the current children’s garden was completed in 2007, tripling the size of the original that was built in 1987?
The gardens rely on the hundreds of volunteers who operate in different capacities. I was lucky enough to get chosen to work in the Children’s Garden. At my first training on Saturday I received the Children’s Garden Team Manual and my official badge pictured above. If you read the little paragraph on the label you will see why I am so excited. To “cultivate curiosity” in children and help them discover their world is what we do as teachers, so hopefully it will be a natural process for me.
Did you know that epiphytes are plants that live on the surface of other plants and that orchids are epiphytes?
There are quite a few puppets housed in the Children’s Garden, so one of our first activities at the training was to choose a puppet, partner with someone, and talk to each other through the puppets, more or less taking on their persona. I chose Mouse, a cute little finger puppet. As I looked around, I could clearly see that not everyone was comfortable with this task, including my partner. Everything would have been fine had she not told me, in no uncertain words, before we even started, that she hated mice and had even killed a few who ventured into her house during the winter. Okay, now what? So I decided Mouse would be extremely shy and would only whisper responses or comments in my ear. She and I managed to talk a little bit (she had a butterfly puppet), but when it came time to share, she reiterated to the entire group her hatred of mice. So Mouse quietly whispered words of forgiveness in my ear which I relayed to my partner, at which point she said that she wouldn’t hesitate to kill again! Did someone forget to tell her this was play?? I’m thinking puppet experiences with kids will be a lot easier!
Did you know that there are more than 20,000 varieties of orchids found in the rainforest?
I’m looking forward to sharing the wonder and magic of this special place very soon!
Did you know that the current children’s garden was completed in 2007, tripling the size of the original that was built in 1987?
The gardens rely on the hundreds of volunteers who operate in different capacities. I was lucky enough to get chosen to work in the Children’s Garden. At my first training on Saturday I received the Children’s Garden Team Manual and my official badge pictured above. If you read the little paragraph on the label you will see why I am so excited. To “cultivate curiosity” in children and help them discover their world is what we do as teachers, so hopefully it will be a natural process for me.
Did you know that epiphytes are plants that live on the surface of other plants and that orchids are epiphytes?
There are quite a few puppets housed in the Children’s Garden, so one of our first activities at the training was to choose a puppet, partner with someone, and talk to each other through the puppets, more or less taking on their persona. I chose Mouse, a cute little finger puppet. As I looked around, I could clearly see that not everyone was comfortable with this task, including my partner. Everything would have been fine had she not told me, in no uncertain words, before we even started, that she hated mice and had even killed a few who ventured into her house during the winter. Okay, now what? So I decided Mouse would be extremely shy and would only whisper responses or comments in my ear. She and I managed to talk a little bit (she had a butterfly puppet), but when it came time to share, she reiterated to the entire group her hatred of mice. So Mouse quietly whispered words of forgiveness in my ear which I relayed to my partner, at which point she said that she wouldn’t hesitate to kill again! Did someone forget to tell her this was play?? I’m thinking puppet experiences with kids will be a lot easier!
Did you know that there are more than 20,000 varieties of orchids found in the rainforest?
I’m looking forward to sharing the wonder and magic of this special place very soon!
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