Last week's session was driven by a number of ideas from both the CRAG members and the young research participants. Both groups have expressed a keen interest in animals and sharing their ideas about them while also learning new facts...... Did you know spiders have 48 knees ? So now it was time to get up close to the animals that live in the garden. We had set up a couple of logs a few weeks previous and kept a watchful eye ( worms have no eyes, ears or teeth!) on what was happening underneath. To enable us in our explorations, everyone was equipped with their own magnifying glass and the morning was spent watching lots of little creatures going about their business ! At first, it took a while to spot them but once we learned to move slowly and quietly ( this is not easy when it's so exciting !!) out they came. We spotted slugs, worms, a moth, spider webs and a centipede who put on a great show ! We also heard some very interesting experiences about bees and woodlice. The magnifying glasses helped us to be respectful to these tiny guys and to watch what they do gently without them becoming scared or hurt. We also rescued a worm from a picnic bench and popped him very carefully back into the soil, where he is going to help our wildflower seeds to grow. A super fun morning was had so we decided to leave the magnifying glasses at playschool, to support more exciting discoveries over the next few weeks!!!
