Rock Hounding For Children 6-21-19 Update
Jun 21, 2019 19:25:07 GMT -5
rockjunquie, hummingbirdstones, and 1 more like this
Post by fernwood on Jun 21, 2019 19:25:07 GMT -5
Do not know who had more fun, the children/parents or me. There were about 35 people attending.
I sat on a stage like area in a corner of the tent. Encouraged the children to sit on the ground. Those in chairs were nearby.
The person ahead of me, ran their session long. Were still taking their items down 20 minutes after mine started.
I cut back on items greatly. Only had rock/fossil examples, some bags/bins with sand and rocks, the Thumbler, a grit/polish pack, some tumbled rocks, finished jewelry and a 5 x 7 resource sheet.
Ages of children ranged from 4 to 12. Two were very knowledgeable of rocks and tumbling them. Also local geology. There were two boys, maybe 6 and 7 years old. They asked some great questions.
Due to the number of attendees, I did not pass my rock/fossil examples around. Held them up. Had a very special one to share. While sitting on a bench about 2 hours before the session, I looked down. There was a nice Favosite Coral. I showed it to them. Let them know I had to return it to where I found it. Told them that there were many great rocks and fossils right here.
Then, stressed importance of not going rock hunting along the road without parents. Also that some parks/campgrounds do not allow rocks to be moved. Not a good idea to take rocks from in front of businesses.
I decreased talk time greatly. Had to let the children rock hunt in the tent in groups. Then went to each child and told them what they found. There were agates, fossils, Apache Tears, Quartz, Jasper, lava bombs and Granite mixed with the sand.
After I had identified their finds, let them know that the MREA was letting us go for a very special rock hunt. Little did they know that a couple hours earlier I had placed some fossils, agates, Jaspers and Quartz Crystals in the area we would be hunting. It was a short distance from the session. A secluded area behind a building. Had rock landscaping. There was also a pipe running about 12' next to a portion of the building. Felt that would be a perfect place to hunt.
Before we left, I let the children know they could only keep one rock from this hunt. They needed to show me their finds. I would tell them what it was. They could then decide whether to keep it or keep hunting.
Some parents were amazed at how much their children were getting into this. At times I had 5-6 children wanting ID's or telling me what they thought the rock was. Most of the time they were correct. Then the parents started rock hunting and doing the same. The location was along a path that intersected with several others. Some passers by came over to see what was going on. Some of them started rock hunting and asking for ID's. There were 2 fossils found that I did not put there. One was about 2" long and had a great pattern.
We returned to the tent and I went behind the display table. Answered question from children/parents about everything there and handed out the resource sheets.
The best experience during the hunt was when a very shy 4-5 year old showed me a piece of Granite that contained Fool's Gold. When I told him that he loudly said: "It is true". I asked him what he meant. He said that I told him about rocks in the Rainbow's End Tent (the name of the children's session tent). The end of a rainbow has gold. He found a rock with gold. He hugged my legs. His Mom said that was the most excited he has ever been about anything and thanked me.
The toughest experience was when parents asked if the finds of their children could be tumbled/made shiny so they could take shiny rocks home. Most understood when I explained the time involved with tumbling.
So, it was a wonderful experience. Am guessing I will be back doing the same next year.
There was no time for me to take photos, as the children kept me very busy.
I sat on a stage like area in a corner of the tent. Encouraged the children to sit on the ground. Those in chairs were nearby.
The person ahead of me, ran their session long. Were still taking their items down 20 minutes after mine started.
I cut back on items greatly. Only had rock/fossil examples, some bags/bins with sand and rocks, the Thumbler, a grit/polish pack, some tumbled rocks, finished jewelry and a 5 x 7 resource sheet.
Ages of children ranged from 4 to 12. Two were very knowledgeable of rocks and tumbling them. Also local geology. There were two boys, maybe 6 and 7 years old. They asked some great questions.
Due to the number of attendees, I did not pass my rock/fossil examples around. Held them up. Had a very special one to share. While sitting on a bench about 2 hours before the session, I looked down. There was a nice Favosite Coral. I showed it to them. Let them know I had to return it to where I found it. Told them that there were many great rocks and fossils right here.
Then, stressed importance of not going rock hunting along the road without parents. Also that some parks/campgrounds do not allow rocks to be moved. Not a good idea to take rocks from in front of businesses.
I decreased talk time greatly. Had to let the children rock hunt in the tent in groups. Then went to each child and told them what they found. There were agates, fossils, Apache Tears, Quartz, Jasper, lava bombs and Granite mixed with the sand.
After I had identified their finds, let them know that the MREA was letting us go for a very special rock hunt. Little did they know that a couple hours earlier I had placed some fossils, agates, Jaspers and Quartz Crystals in the area we would be hunting. It was a short distance from the session. A secluded area behind a building. Had rock landscaping. There was also a pipe running about 12' next to a portion of the building. Felt that would be a perfect place to hunt.
Before we left, I let the children know they could only keep one rock from this hunt. They needed to show me their finds. I would tell them what it was. They could then decide whether to keep it or keep hunting.
Some parents were amazed at how much their children were getting into this. At times I had 5-6 children wanting ID's or telling me what they thought the rock was. Most of the time they were correct. Then the parents started rock hunting and doing the same. The location was along a path that intersected with several others. Some passers by came over to see what was going on. Some of them started rock hunting and asking for ID's. There were 2 fossils found that I did not put there. One was about 2" long and had a great pattern.
We returned to the tent and I went behind the display table. Answered question from children/parents about everything there and handed out the resource sheets.
The best experience during the hunt was when a very shy 4-5 year old showed me a piece of Granite that contained Fool's Gold. When I told him that he loudly said: "It is true". I asked him what he meant. He said that I told him about rocks in the Rainbow's End Tent (the name of the children's session tent). The end of a rainbow has gold. He found a rock with gold. He hugged my legs. His Mom said that was the most excited he has ever been about anything and thanked me.
The toughest experience was when parents asked if the finds of their children could be tumbled/made shiny so they could take shiny rocks home. Most understood when I explained the time involved with tumbling.
So, it was a wonderful experience. Am guessing I will be back doing the same next year.
There was no time for me to take photos, as the children kept me very busy.
