Dynamic

While reading my friend Amber's blog post, I was nodding and smiling the entire time. Like her, I also love kids, and always have. My history consists of working at community centers, children aid camps, sport camps and summer adventure camps. Children inspire me with their shiny eyes full of imagination, dreams and creativity. There are so many things to frown about in this world, and the more we read the news and see how critical some situations are, the easier it is to see the world from a pessimistic viewpoint. A group of children will quickly remind you that there are many beautiful subtle details in this world that you should remember to appreciate.

This past weekend I took a break from my weekend travelling trips and stayed in Guayaquil. I had a few meetings planned with a Canadian visitor, and was also asked if I could do a dynamic workshop with the Jardines Del Salado environmental kids club. The age group of the kids was from 7-12 years old. The goal of the activity was to teach the children about the importance of trees in their lives. I agreed to take on the task without hesitation, and immediately started reflecting on my camp counselor days thinking: ¨What activities did kids love, why?, Could I do something similar?¨

I had three days to think of an idea, send in a plan, get it reviewed and receive the "go ahead" from the administrator of the program.

I came up with several different game plans, and couldn’t decide which one to go with. Luckily, I had a princess tea party planned with my neighbors 8 year old granddaughter, Emily. I asked her majesty for her royal opinion, she liked my (tree rescue) game, and so did her dolls and teddy bears. Since I was outnumbered, I chose to listen to her.

The game was simple, it was like freeze tag, but with 4 different teams:

1- The Trees: They had to run away from the (destroyers) And they were also, the only ones that could (unfreeze) the ones that were (frozen)
2- The people: They had to and run away from the (destroyers)
3- The animals: They had the same role as the people.
4- The destroyers: Their goal was simple, to run after and touch everyone until they were all frozen.

The catch of the game was that the trees could get (destroyed) as well. When that happened, the people and animals could no longer get (unfrozen) or saved.

When I explained this to a friend of mine, she didn’t understand it at all! This most definitely made me nervous because I was on my way to the workshop already! She even said "Cassie, that game is too complicated, kids will NOT understand that game. . . but good luck!"  Gee, thanks friend. . . 

My hiking group

My heart was racing, I couldnt help but wonder "what if my friend was right? What if nobody understands and it´s a big failure?". When I finally arrived, I smiled nervously, and 15 little faces smiled back at me, instantly calming my nerves. I thought to myself, "Cassie don´t be silly, this is your DOMAIN!" The children were filled with questions, and compliments. They also asked me what snow was like in Canada. "Does it fall from the sky like rain?" Followed by a "SEE? I TOLD YOU SO!". The day began with a guided hike on one of the trails of Cerro Blanco. The group was split up into two different groups, so that the big crowd wouln´t scare away all of the wildlife.

The kids learned about the fauna and flora of the dry tropical forest.

Gathering around a plant that helps heal stomache aches

Many of them said things along the lines of: "WOW! LOOK at that!  LOOK!" ,while frantically tapping my leg and pointing in different directions. They were so full of enthusiasm for every single flower, bird or animal that we encountered along the way. This made me smile. One of the little girls kept saying things such as: "WOW you know so much cool stuff, everything is so beauuuutiful!" to the tour guide. It was very cute, and forced me to look at the world through her eyes, and it suddenly became a much brighter, happy place full of wonders to discover.

Soon it was game time, and I gathered my book full of pictures that little princess Emily helped me draw a few nights before. I began with a short information session on (why trees are important) giving three big reasons : 1- Produces oxygen for us to eat 2- Helps control the weather and gives us rain 3- Fruit and vegetables that humans and animals eat to survive. Then, I asked them (why are trees important?) And they told me the answers back to me, and I gave stickers out for the brave ones that spoke up, to help motivate others to do the same.
Soon, it was game time. I chose the four teams by enumeration, and told everyone the rules. To help them identify who is on what team, the two teachers helped me stick the pictures of the 4 different teams on their shirts with tape.

The animal team
Like my hand made photos?

Running, giggling and crying (HELP ME TREE IM OVER HERE!)
 They were really having fun.

We played the game two times, the first time, as I predicted, finished in moments. The destroyers touched all of the trees, and the people and animals became hopeless fast. Before the second time, I asked them what they could do differently to live longer. "Protect the trees, because we need them to save us"…. Perfect answer! That little boy got in the orange shirt recieved two stickers for his brilliance. They played again for almost triple the time, but still, the game finished rather quickly.

Helping them come up with a strategy for the second time around

My attempt in catching the confusion

After it was finished, everyone sat down again, and I asked them "who won the game?" When everyone chose (the destroyer) team, because they successfully achieved their goal and froze everyone. I told them that it was the wrong answer. They suddenly got quiet, started looking around and scratching their heads, looking very confused.
 "Well then who wins?" Asks a little girl. I smiled, and replied "you tell me." After more confused reactions, that I was having WAY too much fun initiating, I finally asked them: "Who needs trees?" they replied "people and animals!" making a great reference to the game. I agreed with them but added "the destroyers are people too, they also need trees to breath, and eat like you and me. Soooo... Without trees, everybody loses!" A big group of them said "AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH" I loved their reactions! I then continued the conlusion portion of the workshop. I made several references between the game and real life situations, and they were shocked by my surprise twist. The messge at the end was simple:"los árboles son importantes para todos!" meaning, (Trees are crucial for everyone). I got them to repeat it 3 times, each time louder than the last. (Remind me to bring my earplugs next time I do that.) I then, thanked them for their time and was surprised when they all clapped and cheered for me afterwards. I was radiating with happiness from the success of the game. Princess Emily was right about the best game choice. People should listen to kids more often, they know their stuff.

"A person is a person, no matter how small" - Doctor Seuss

My number one fan Juleisi asked me if I knew any songs about the Dry tropical forest...
My answer was "not yet!" Lets see how that goes.