Kids Collect River Samples

At nature camp this summer, the kids take samples from a pond. They find a leech, 2 tadpoles, and 2 very cool bugs.

I pack a white tray, popsicle sticks, little clear jars and paper and drawing pen to go to one of our favorite places, the river.

We pull samples from different parts of the river: the shallow still waters, from a rock in the middle of the river and scooping muck from the bottom of the river.

We pour the samples onto the white tray and browse for living creatures with our pop sticks.

We find a leach, lots of water skimmers and something that looked like a tiny crayfish.

The kids become involved in catching lots of water skimmers.

When they are finished observing, we empty the contents of tray back into the river, and draw a picture of water skimmers together.