Mountain Views News          Saturday, July 30, 2011

9

SUMMER FUN

 Mountain Views News Saturday, July 30, 2011 

(NAPS)—Connecting with nature 
offers many rewards for children. 
Spending time outside gives kids a 
chance to exercise in the open air, 
engage all their senses of perception 
and enjoy the simple pleasure of being 
outdoors.

Introducing kids to nature can be 
easy and fun for the whole family. 
Here are a few tips: 

Start in your own backyard: 

Children’s first introduction to nature 
can start at home. Even small 
children can dig a hole, hunt for 
bugs, plant sunflower seeds and 
watch them grow, or help fill a bird 
feeder and watch the flocks come to 
feed. Parents can plant flowers that 
attract butterflies and hummingbirds, 
then ask kids to notice when 
insect or bird visitors arrive. 

Take a nature walk: Start your preschoolers 
with a trip to a park or 
nature reserve and take note of the 
flowers, insects and animals you see. 
If you can’t identify them, take a picture 
and try to research them online 
when you get home. Some nature reserves 
offer guided walks, which are 
great for older kids. Next, try short 
hikes. Be sure your child has a pair 
of sturdy shoes. Wearing two pairs of 
socks—a thin nylon liner close to the 
foot and a thicker, heavier pair on the 
outside—may help prevent blisters. 
Hikes are a lot of fun but your child 
could become bored if there isn’t anything 
going on for a long time. You 
can engage them by playing games 
such as “I Spy” and challenge them to 
contests collecting leaves, stones or 
twigs to help them relate to the nature 
around them.

Bring nature to the craft table: 

Collect items found on nature explorations 
to create crafts that will 
bring the outside in. For example, 
dried flowers and leaves can be used 
to make place mats or picture frames. 
Rocks can be decorated and transformed 
into paperweights.

Take the kids camping: 

When introducing camping, try to 
keep the first trip short—about two 
nights—and keep travel time to the 
site as short as possible. Before you 
go, you may want to show kids a 
DVD about camping so they know 
what to expect. For example, “Mickey 
Mouse Clubhouse: Mickey’s Great 
Outdoors” features five episodes 
from the “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse” 
TV show that showcase how to enjoy 
outdoor activities such as camping, 
fishing and exploring nature.

The camping episode shows that 
when camping, the first thing to be 
done is to set up the campsite, put up 
the tent and organize the fire. Only 
then do Mickey and friends go fishing. 
The other adventures 
introduce 
binoculars, using maps and finding 
landmarks. Each episode incorporates 
the value of using tools to help 
solve problems. 

Teach children to respect nature 
and leave a small footprint: 

It’s fun to catch fish, but check size 
requirements and throw back fish 
that are too small. Collect fireflies in 
a jar but release them at the end of 
the adventure. Help children remember 
to clean up after themselves outside 
and not litter. 

Subscribe to a nature magazine: 

Nature magazines can teach kids 
about different aspects of nature and 
help keep them interested during the 
colder months when it’s not as easy to 
spend time outside. 

Look up: Teach children about the 
planets and the constellations. 

Take a lawn chair outside some 
nights and look up at the stars or plan 
a picnic at dusk and watch the sun go 
down. The changing sky offers a fascinating 
show. 

Take a child to the seashore at low 
tide: 

Point out a few tide pools, give your 
kids a bucket and let them go. Then 
have fun discussing everything they 
bring back. 

Plan a visit to a children’s zoo or petting 
zoo: 

Children love the opportunity to see 
animals in their natural habitat and 
may even have a chance to pet or feed 
them. It’s another wonderful way to 
spend time outdoors together.

Visit natural history museums: 

These museums offer information 
about ecological systems and various 
animals. They often have special exhibits 
and play areas specifically for 
young children. Teaching your children 
to love the natural world around 
them can be one of the best gifts you 
can give them.

Before taking kids on their first 
camping trip, you may want to show 
them a DVD so they know what’s 
involved.

GETTING KIDS TO LOVE AND RESPECT 
THE GREAT OUTDOORS

Miss Palmer’s 3rd Grade Class, 31 talented and creative students, have 
published a book! It is called, “Miss Palmer’s Third Grade: Once Upon 
A Wayside” and it includes the work of each of the students in her class. 
We will publish the book in its’ entirety this summer, with 3-4 stories each 
week. The stories will not be edited, well maybe a few spelling corrections. 
They are all entertaining and original!

 Inspired by the book series they read in class, The Wayside School Series 
by Louis Sachar, the children created their own episodes of life at Wayside. 
(Hint: Louis Sachar’s Wayside School was supposed to be 30 classrooms, 
one story high; but by mistake it was built straight up 30 stories. That 
should give you some insight into the kind of stories you will read from Ms. 
Palmer’s 3rd Grade Class!)

 A teacher for six years, Ms. Palmer has been at Sierra Madre Elementary 
for two years. She was born and reared in Sierra Madre, played on the SM 
Girls Softball Team and was a Sierra Madre Rose Princess in 2000.

 This is a series of stories that will enlighten, inspire and keep you laughing 
all summer long! 

 If you want to read the previous week’s stories, go to: www.mtnviewsnews.
com. S. Henderson/MVNews


THE GREEN BALL

by Cameron Agapito

It was 6:00 in the morning. 
That’s when Wayside School 
started. All the other kids 
ran up the stairs as usual, ut 
DeeDee was walking with her 
thinking face on. That always 
meant she was making a plan, 
which was bad. She was planning 
on how to finally get the 
green ball.

 When she got to Mrs. Jewel’s 
classroom, she sat down 
at her desk. Mrs. Jewels 
started an arithmetic lesson. 
Then, DeeDee dropped 
her pencil on purpose next to 
Leslie’s desk. When she went 
to go get the pencil she whispered 
to Leslie, “Come with 
me at recess.”

 DeeDee then did the same 
thing to Jenny and Allison. 
So, when it was recess, they 
all went down the stairs and 
to the playground. Then, 
DeeDee told Leslie, Jenny 
and Allison they would distract 
Louis. Then Dee Dee 
would sneak behind him and 
grab a green ball. Finally 
DeeDee would have the green 
ball.

 The girls did exactly what 
DeeDee said to do. Finally, 
DeeDee got the green ball 
and she kept it a secret.

30 FLIGHTS OF 
STAIRS

by Jacob Sattler

Dameon was a student in 
Mrs. Jewel’s class located 
on the 30th story of Wayside 
School. He was class 
messenger, which meant he 
had to deliver notes for Mrs. 
Jewels.

 

 One day, Mrs. Jewels told 
Dameon to bring some papers 
down the the office. Dameon 
went down 30 flights of stairs 
to give the papers to Mr. Kidswatter. 
After hedelivered 
them, Dameon ran back up 30 
flighs of stairs to class.

 When he got back to class, 
Mrs. Jewels told Dameon to 
go back down to Mr. Kidswatter’s 
office to pick up the 
signed papers. ON the way 
back up, Dameon tripped on 
his shoelaces and fell down.

 Dameon was knocked out 
and fell down to Mrs. Zarves’ 
class. Mrs. Zarves’ class is 
on the 19th story but there 
is no 19th story at Wayside 
School. Therefore, no Mrs. 
Zarves.

 When Dameon woke up, he 
said, “Where am I?”

 Mrs. Zarves replied, “You 
are in Mrs. Zarves class.”

 Dameon asked, ““Who said 
that?”

 Mrs. Zarves said, “Zarves. 
Now we are going to take a 
test.”

 Dameon screamed, “WHAT!”

 Mrs. Zarves repeated, “We 
are going to take a test.”

 Joe was there too. Dameon 
and Joe started the test. 
Joe asked, “What is two plus 
two?”

 Dameon said, “I can’t tell 
you.”

 Joe said, “But I don’t know 
how to count.”

 Dameon answered, “So, I 
can’t do your work.” Joe 
wront the answer 163.

 At the end of the test, 
Dameon got hit with a kickball 
on his head. This work 
Dameon up from what had 
been a dream.

 Dameon work up and went 
back to Mrs. Jewels’ class. 
No one was there. It was the 
end of school.

THE BASEMENT

by Gianna Malfitano

 One day, Bebe and Calvin 
were eating lunch in the cafeteria 
when Louis and Mrs. 
Jewels walked in. They needed 
a ladder because a ball got 
stuck high up in a tree.

 Bebe said, “I know where 
one is! It’s in the basement. 
I’ll go get it.”

 Calvin said, “Can I come?”

 Bebe said, “Yes.”

 So Bebe and Calvin started 
down to the basement. They 
were scared walking down 
the stairs. When they got 
down there they thought 
they saw someone. So Calvin 
said, “Let’s go back up.”

 Bebe said, “No.”

 Bebe and Calvin turned on 
the lights to look for the ladder, 
ut they didn’t find it. 
Right then, the door slammed 
shut and locked them in the 
basement.

 

 So they screamed, “Help!”

 Amazingly, D.J. heard them 
so he came to the basement, 
but couldn’t open the door. 
So D.J. found the ladder, 
and they climbed out of the 
window.

 Afterwards, they took the 
ladder to Louis and Mrs. Jewels 
and got the ball.