Animals in the Winter/ Los animales en el invierno

A one-day puppet bilingual workshop for children 7-12 yrs. old. The workshop was the idea of Jennifer Murray @turtlebackfarm. She wanted to have children learn about what animals did in the winter. Jennifer not only is an expert in the field of conservation and the animals around us, she also runs summer nature camps and works for Hallock State Park Preserve. She encouraged me to do a sock puppet workshop. The goal was for kids to go on a 1/2 hr. hike (and it was very cold!!) and talk about how humans keep cold and then look around the preserve and discover areas where animals could be but perhaps aren't visible to us, i.e. burrows, holes in trees, etc. Afterwards, we all headed back to the indoors to talk about what they had learned. This is where I stepped in and introduced Señor Zorro. We talked to Sr. Zorro about how he stays warm in the winter..(of course he was wearing a sweater, scarf, and hat that was totally unnecessary since he has fur!) Kids picked an animal that they would make and then write 3 facts about how that animal stays warm in the winter. The kids chose a partner to act out a skit and we were on our way!! The kids were able to perform for their parents (some in Spanish and English) ! It was a wonderful time!!