Nature, and all its glories, at Audubon camps

SHARON — Youngsters interested in nature took part in several different day camps the week of Aug. 10 at Audubon Sharon.

Children entering pre-kindergarten and kindergarten enjoyed a week of Nature’s Alphabet, which included scavenger hunts and learning the alphabet as they roamed around the center grounds looking for things in nature that began with each letter of the alphabet.

On the morning of Friday, Aug. 14, the youngsters went to the center’s Bog Meadow where they searched for things that began with the last few letters of the alphabet. They enjoyed a snack while looking out over the pond and got a quick lesson on echos by yelling “echo,” “subway” and “fire truck” across the water and listening for the echo. 

Along the way back to the center, the group stopped several times to look at different mushrooms along the path,. One was a milk mushroom, which can be identified by the milky  substance it secretes from its bottom. Several of the children claimed it smelled like Froot Loops cereal. After wandering back, the group played tag before assembling their final craft of the week, fish windsocks.

For older children, in grades four to six, the summer program taught them how to take care of the center’s many resident animals. They helped prepare the animals’ meals, cleaned their cages and handled some of the animals, including the turtles and doves that live in the main viewing room. 

The program was designed to help each child learn responsibility and proper care and management of animals in captivity and to learn the habits of each.

Other programs offered this summer included “Eye Spy with My Little Eye” for children ages 4 to 6, focusing on eyesight and how animals see in the wild; and “Aquatic Adventures,” with students exploring the ponds and streams at the center looking for frogs, salamanders, dragonfly nymphs and other water creatures.