Last week, Jasper and I were invited to the Maude Eaton Girl Scout Camp. I read Tillie Lays an Egg. I talked a lot about chicken poop (always a popular subject!) and chicken behavior. I taught the girls the word omnivore and Jasper illustrated its meaning by sharing their pizza and bananas. Then, they all got to pet her. Children are always surprised by how soft feathers are.
Afterwards, while I packed up, the girls made chicken cluck noisemakers out of plastic cups. What a great craft! I have a teacher’s page for educators. I’ve added the “clucker.” I also have an annotated list of my favorite children’s books about chickens. Stuck inside on a rainy summer day? You’ll find plenty to keep your young ones busy on those two pages.
Here is a photo of Jasper at camp. (For privacy reasons, I don’t have photos of the Scouts.)
I’ve already posted this on my FaceBook page (if you haven’t yet, do friend me!) It turns out that many of my readers were Girl Scouts and they had ideas for badges that Jasper could work towards (she is now an honorary Scout.) What about Creative Nesting? Scratching and Pecking? What do you think? I can just see her in her sash arrayed with badges…
(Please share my Teacher’s Page with educators. Let’s get more children to learn about chickens!)
Dear, dear, lovely Jasper. She will make a great Girl Scout or ambassador of Girl Scouts. I’ll take 10 boxes of thin mints please! What a great blog. I would love to see her in a sash and badges. A laying badge would be nice too!
I agree–an egg laying badge :) How wonderful the girls got to visit up close with Jasper. We suspect a lot of them have never seen a live chicken.
Hi Terry, it’s me again. I’m not sure where everyone is at, but I miss their comments. I love reading theirs as well as your blog. I always learn something new. I just read your December 2011 post “Chanukah In My Home.” Very sweet post. My wish is that all could share their warmth and kindness with all others and not blogged down by the woes that plague their life. Thanks for sharing yours everyday.
Yes, it’s been a quiet day here. Perhaps everyone is on vacation. Nice wish :)
Coming from a Brownie as well as a Girl Scout from Troop 2164 in Michigan…back in the late fifties and early 60’s.now transplanted to Tennessee.
The
“How to Survive the Molt” badge.
Brilliant!
Jasper is such a wonderful chicken ambassador!
Oh, and I was a Girl Scout also. Brownie, Junior and Cadette. The camp I went to was Camp Trefoil, which had horses! I LOVED going there every summer.
Sorry, I think I misspelled a word. As I recall into my memory banks I think the correct spelling is Cadet!
Jasper is a poster girl for her breed too. Thanks to her, and to Terry, the Welsummer breed is on my short list of breeds to hopefully include in our flock.
I am curious about how your “chicken caravan” works, Terry: I notice you have bungee cords around the base of the crate. Is this a quick-release system, so that the base can be used for access, instead of using the latch door on the cage?
The travel crate is designed for rabbits, and likely light-weight ones at that. A heavy hen in there, and the bottom falls off! The bungee cords keep it all together.
Do get a Welsummer. Lovely, lovely breed.
Twiggy was messing around in the Little Barn nesting box. Maybe it’s almost time. Fingers crossed.