Ogden Nature Center

I really like going to the Ogden Nature Center.  I've been there on 3 different field trips now--one with Tess in the Winter where they learned about how animals adapt for the winter and they all got to have a mug of hot chocolate; one with Miles in the Spring where they learned about seeds and baby animals; and now today I went with Miles to learn about Native American tribes who first lived in Utah.  It was super fun!

First, of course, was the bus ride there.  I think that is the best part for some kids--especially Kindergartners who've never ridden on a bus before.  Here I am with my little buddy:

We first learned about the different types of homes the native tribes lived in.  There were "wikiups" which only were meant to last for 3 months because the tribe would move to a new place every season.  Of course they had teepees which were more sturdy but still transportable, and also adobe brick houses which have stood for a thousand years.  We went outside for 4 rotations: first to a teepee where we learned about some customs within the tribe.  The maternal grandmother was the leader and sat in the place of most importance in the teepee.  She would tell stories and teach the children about the world.  I was interested to learn that the Indians could not shoot buffalo with bows & arrows because their hides were so thick and tough that the arrows couldn't penetrate.  Instead they would lead some buffalo near a cliff and then scare them into stampeding off the edge!  When they fell and died, that's when the Indians would collect the bodies for meat, fur, hides, etc.

We then went to a fire pit to learn about how they would grind the corn for flour.  All the kids got to flick off some corn kernels into a bowl (made out of a hollow gourd), and then mash them with a rock.  She told how they would make corn cakes on a stone over the fire (although she cheated a little and used a cast iron frying pan), and they would use the shoulder blade of a deer as a spatula to flip their food.  Interesting!  All the kids got to have a piece of corn bread too.

Miles is holding a gourd that they might've used as a drinking vessel.

 We also saw the birds that are always at the nature center--owls, pelicans, eagles, ravens, and a funny wild turkey that follows the kids all around.  Here is Miles's whole class standing in an eagle's nest (replica) to show how BIG the nests are.

Another interesting thing was Indian "fruit roll-ups"...an Indian woman would take berries and put some in her mouth, and chew them up to separate the fruit from the seeds.  She would collect the seeds in one cheek and the fruit in the other cheek and then when they were full, she would spit out the seeds, and spit out the chewed-up fruit on a rock and smooth it out, let it dry, and have a fruit roll-up to send out with the men to eat while they were hunting.  Wow.

For diapers, they would use the bark of the juniper tree (I think it was juniper, but definitely tree bark of some sort) because it was absorbent.  They would put strips of it into a little "buffalo fur diaper" and off the baby would go in the papoose!

It was a really fun field trip and I loved going with the kids.  There was this darling little redheaded boy in Miles's class that for some reason took a real liking to me.  He was my buddy and held my hand the whole time and asked to sit with us on the bus and told Miles over and over that he had a cool mom.  It made me feel good!  Kindergartners are pretty cool.

My new friend!